


Tide Pod Challenge Gone Right

by A_Tomb_With_A_View, Irratia



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Alternative Universe - H2O Just Add Water, Anxiety may be chronic but the JATPH2OLU is iconic, Bobby Wilson Has Selective Mutism, F/F, F/M, Forgive the summary it’s a mashup of the show summaries lol, Luke Patterson Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, None of them is American and None of them is Straight, Reggie Peters Has Fibromyalgia, Swearing, Underage Drinking, funky fresh queer hijinks, he/they willie, this is violently european
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 62,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28485039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irratia/pseuds/Irratia
Summary: Teenager Julie finds her passion for music and life while helping the Sirens, a quartet of boys from Europe who find themselves turned into mermen. Trying to keep their special powers a secret is hard for Luke, Alex, Reggie and Bobby. When they're not in school or teaching their new merman friend, Willie, about the human world, they're using their magical powers to save sea turtles and rescue those in need.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 446
Kudos: 208





	1. Sunset Curve and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi kiddos! This was borne from irratia/lotte getting possessed by her 12-year old self for a hot minute seeing [this art](https://thesunwillart.tumblr.com/post/638709665157529600/mermaid-willex-for-americanhoney913-thank-you) and coming up with a H2O AU which was then massively extended upon by A_Tomb_With_A_View/Meg. We went a bit feral with it and so the JATPH2OLU (Julie And The Phantoms x H2O Literary Universe) was created. We're having a blast with it thus far, and we hope you will, too! We’ve made a few changes to the mermaid stuff for the bants.  
> Usual disclaimer from me (Meg): all anxiety/fibromyalgia/ADHD stuff is based off our personal experiences, and we’ve done a fair bit of research re selective mutism, but if you think we’ve messed up somewhere with it, please reach out to us on either tumblr (links in the end notes) or in the comments. The underage drinking is bc they’re from Europe and that’s how it be here lol. Enjoy!
> 
> (Ps: Reggie’s description of Bobby’s speaking is mocking the North Yorkshire accent, which I (meg) have just realised might not actually be obviously to anyone who isn’t from North Yorkshire, which I am, lol)

Reggie didn’t mind moving as much as he’d expected to.

Sure it was a change - a _big_ change, what with going from being chased by his brothers through Flor & Fjære or along Dalsnuten hike, to being yanked back by their mum just before another car whizzed past, with an absent admonishment that it was illegal to cross at places that weren’t actual crossings in the middle of her argument with their dad about whether going out for a meal on their first night in America was really the best plan - but Martin said it would make the arguing better, and Kristopher said it was really just the next big adventure, and they’d never lied to him before, so he faced it like he would any other adventure; with open arms and his brothers beside him.

He kind of hated not being able to read the menu, at first. His English was good - Fru Kristiansen had said that the coloured plastic sheet she’d given him to put over things was making him improve massively - but they’d not exactly got to covering things like “philly-cheese steak” or “grits”, yet. It sucked, but the letters had still spun around back when everything had been in Norwegian, so it wasn’t exactly something he wasn’t used to.

He _loved_ being able to swim in the sea without considerable layering of wetsuits throughout the whole year, and the people in the swim team he quickly joined at the elementary school were way friendlier than he’d been expecting, even if there were… comments, from time to time, on the way he said his ‘th’s and rolling ‘r’s, which he eventually got better with anyway.

The rest of school was. Well. It was lonely, at first. They put him in extra-English-help classes, which was embarrassing, and confusing, because they told him to take ‘u’s out of words that he was pretty sure should have ‘u’s in, like rumour and vigour, and they said things like “dyslexia” and “has difficulties”, and they ignored him when he said his chest hurt, because they thought he was just trying to get out of things, even though he’d never been a good enough actor to cry at things that didn’t exist. He did discover algebra, though, and his teachers stopped making every maths question some big essay-length character analysis, and just gave him a simple set of numbers and symbols to turn into more numbers and symbols. They couldn’t move him up a grade because of his English, but they let him take more advanced maths, which was awesome.

Alexander Mercer was a _godsend_.

His accent was stronger than Reggie’s was now, and he was shakier than Reggie had ever been, but he was sarcastic and funny and he believed Reggie when he whispered that his ribs were on fire, and when Ms. Hake left the room Alex would teach him words like schadenfreude and lebensmüde, and would look at Reggie like he was hanging the stars when he offered things like glad I deg and uff da in return. For all of fifth grade, period four extra-English was just him and Alex, and they talked about how cold it had gotten back home and how they missed Snow, and how weird it was to walk into every classroom and see the American flag. His parents didn’t seem to get happier with the move, even after two years of settling in. Reggie had thought - both of his brothers had thought, too - that moving from Norway would help. His dad had always hated the cold, and the darker months made him sad and quiet, and his mum never seemed to know what to do with herself when she’d finished with her job list, even though Reggie had always been able to waste hours just sitting and watching the tide of the fjord. As far as Reggie had understood at the time, moving to California was supposed to fix that. The shortest day of the year was around ten whole hours of sunlight, and there were a million things to do down every street, and it was warm and there was nothing that Reggie could understand that was making his parents fight so much.

Martin moved away to college, and Reggie started swinging by Alex’s house on a night for dinner when he could, in case his mum and dad forgot because one of the letters with the red writing came again, or because one of them stormed out, and Reggie often spent those nights at home holed up in his room, hiding from the shouting, and some of those nights he never felt it was quiet enough to leave to get food.

Luke Patterson was probably the coolest guy Reggie had ever met, and he was convinced of that five minutes after he joined them in period two extra-English on the first day of sixth grade, after arguing with their new teacher, Mr Rudland, entirely in French, once Mr Rudland had left to get the register, and introduced himself with a Canadian accent and near-flawless English. His ribs got so bad that his mum eventually dragged him to the ER, which was all bright lights and loud questions, and his dad fretting over the phone about the cost. The doctor was rude and gave him pills that he hated, but the next one listened to him, and referred him to a specialist called a “rheumatologist”, who was sarcastic but kind, and who said he had “fibromyalgia”. He switched the pills, and Reggie settled, even though swimming took way more out of him than it had before, and the days where the temperature made it above thirty degrees made him want to curl up in a ball and hide in the freezer until his sternum stopped pulsing with a weird achy feeling.

Luke and Alex were cool about it, and they didn’t care when he put on a bit of weight because of what the doctor called “metabolic comorbidities” even though his appetite halved and his dad pushed him to keep swimming, and Luke taught them swear-words in French that Mr Rudland almost certainly understood, but let slide, because he was apparently extremely uncomfortable with the idea of standing up to Luke, lest he revert back to refusing to speak English, again.

The next, and last, person to join their little group was Bobby Wilson in the seventh grade. Bobby spoke with his hands just as often as he spoke with his mouth, and he didn’t say half of the letters in words, especially words ending in double “ll”, which he seemed to have decided were unnecessary, and he used harsh sounds in place of words like “at” and “to”, and he was kind of infuriating, but he was sarcastic and fond-mean like Alex, and he had a garage with an extra freezer that he let Reggie open the door to and sit in front of, and he cried when they told him they were learning sign, and then cried again - with laughter - when he realised they’d studied ASL without thinking that Bobby would know BSL because he was from England, and he sometimes smiled in a way that made Reggie feel sad, instead of happy.

When Bobby turned fifteen, they raided his mum’s alcohol cabinet and Reggie got drunk for the first time, even though his dad had been giving him little bits of beer at dinner for some time, and it was spacey and floaty and fun, and he made a drink called a pink lady that Alex loved the look of but hated the flavour of that made him feel brave enough to plaster himself against Bobby’s side for the night.

When Luke booked them a gig on the other side of the country, Reggie felt a twinge in his collarbone at the idea of flying, but when Alex pointed out how easy it would be to just… not come back, he didn’t feel any pain at all. When he jokingly suggested they spend their first night looking at the stars from the water, Bobby called ahead to rent a boat even though he hated phone calls, and Reggie thought maybe all those nights they’d spent teasing each other as they wiped down tables at the cafe on Grand Avenue could’ve actually meant what Reggie had wanted them to.  
He didn’t mention it, but Bobby nudged their shoulders together as they boarded the plane, and he thought that could be enough, for now.

——

Alex wasn’t the biggest fan of moving, and had done it a lot more than he ever wanted to.

He hadn’t liked moving from Rosenheim to Berlin when his father got a new, better job there at the age of 6. He’d liked Rosenheim, with its old buildings and the mountains in the distance and his few friends in kindergarten. He’d liked reciting prayers every morning and playing the Christkind in their nativity because of his blond hair, and he’d liked going to church, holding both of his parent’s hands tight and singing hymns.  
He’d also liked going to Ballet lessons every Monday and Wednesday after school, and his friends there, who were mostly girls. Some of them were going to go to an all girl’s school, but some of them were going to go to the same school he was, and he’d looked forward to that.

And then his dad had gotten the job in Berlin, and they’d packed up everything in their house and moved.  
Berlin was scary. It was full of loud people and trams and trains coming to a screeching halt in the U-Bahn. It was too colourful and too big, and he didn’t know anybody, and while his school was at least somewhat familiar with it’s daily hymn singing and reading of the Bible, he didn’t know anybody there. Many of the other children had come from the same kindergartens and knew each other, and Alex didn’t. He still went to ballet lessons, but his new teacher was less nice and some of the boys at school made fun of him for it. His father signed him up to some football club he didn’t really want to be a part of, and cheered at all the games Alex only took part in because he was the fastest runner. But some of the girls at his school had grown on him, and he had a few friends and things were starting to look up. He joined his school’s music group that practiced every few days, learned how to play the drums and loved it.

Then his dad had gotten another, even better job, and they had, once again, packed everything up and moved to Los Angeles in California. At only 10 years old he hadn’t had a lot of experience with English, and even though his father was US-American they didn’t speak English at home.

Alex didn’t like LA, because it was even louder and just… _more_ than Berlin. The house his parents rented was smaller, which he didn’t mind, but they didn’t even have a hedge or a fence in the cul-de-sac and he didn’t like how his next door neighbour would just start talking to him out of nowhere while watering her plants. He didn’t like the weird windows and missed watching Sandmännchen in the evenings because the only channel he could really understand was the Deutsche Welle and that was just news. He missed Kinder Überraschungseier, which apparently were banned here, because people didn’t know how to eat them. He missed being surrounded by the language he grew up with, only sharing it with his mother, and he hated when his father chastised him for not wanting to speak it.  
“Nein, Alexander, du sprichst Englisch mit mir, und mit jedem außer deiner Mutter, wir sind hier in Amerika.”

His parents didn’t let him continue dancing ballet, and so he would just practice old moves at home, walk around in his pointe shoes until his father threw them out. He still went to church every Sunday, but his new church wasn’t as pretty with stained glass windows and gothic arches like his old one, and so it felt somewhat wrong.

He hated his new school. It was too loud and too big, and singing the national anthem every morning felt weird. He hated the way some kids giggled when he spoke, his tongue still tripping over the weird soft shape of english vowels and consonants, and his teachers made him repeat himself over and over again, until his grammar was correct. He continued playing football, or soccer as they called it here, until one day he refused, and his parents only let him because he told them he wanted to play the drums. Those were the only good things in the US.

And meeting Reggie Peters, in the extra-English-help class they shoved him into when he started crying because he didn’t understand why the English he’d learned back home was marked as wrong in his essays.  
Reggie, who was funny and had a similar accent to his, because he was from Norway, and Reggie, who played the bass with him sometimes. And then, a year later, they met Luke Patterson, who was actually good at English, but didn’t show that to the teachers because he also hadn’t wanted to move to LA and so only spoke French in front of teachers, which Alex thought was pretty cool.

And with the three of them, always sitting in a room too big for them and an exhausted, overworked teacher, they bonded. Luke was crazy talented on the guitar, and sometimes they’d sneak away after school and play in the music room, and play some of the songs Luke was writing. They held hands on field-trips and ran around when Luke couldn’t stop moving and they learned some English.

Alex still missed ballet, and wished he could join the dance club their school had, and he still didn’t understand why they had to change schools every few years, why they couldn’t just be in the same school from grade seven on. He lay in bed at night and stared at the cross on the opposing wall, and wondered what the God he was still praying to over dinner every night would think of him, if he knew, that Alex sometimes stared into Luke’s blue eyes too long or focused on the back of Jonathan in front of him in biology too much.

And then Bobby Wilson joined them, and things changed again, but Alex didn’t mind it. Bobby was cool, and he wrote words the same way Alex still did, and didn’t mind if his voice shook when he had to recite  
“Whether the weather was well” because words with ‘w’s were just hard, and laughed at Reggie’s jokes. He spoke English with an accent that was a bit hard to understand sometimes, but Alex had started understanding the thick accent of the Texan family across the street, and so he understood Bobby pretty quickly as well.

And Bobby was cool because he taught them sign language, even though they learned the wrong one at first, even though it was hard. He didn’t mind that Bobby had days where he couldn’t speak, because sometimes Alex felt like that too, like his throat just clamped shut, and so it was the four of them in the too big classroom with the too tired teacher.

They hung out in class, when they could, and after, and they still played music together, just for fun. Alex started taking the cross off the wall so he didn’t have to see it at night, and prayed to the God he wondered about, that his parents would stop making faces whenever the pastor spoke about loving everybody, no matter who they loved. They spoke their weird mix of languages and Alex started getting more secure with English, and minding the ‘w’s less, and when the days got too hot they’d hang out at Bobby’s house and eat endless popsicles and spend hours in the pool.

Some things got better, some things didn’t. The day of a presentation he always felt like he was going to throw up, and he couldn’t stop shaking and couldn’t stabilize his voice, and English got harder. Sometimes he felt his whole chest constrict and he couldn’t breathe and had to fight to not cry in class because everything was just too much and too loud and he pressed a led pencil so deep into his palm that the dark spot didn’t even wash off. But his friends were there, and one day he couldn’t bear it anymore, because a guy he’d known for years had mocked his accent, and Adrian from P.E. had caught him staring and his parents were thinking about going to a different church. And when Alex couldn’t breathe anymore and cried and cried until he dried out, they’d taken his hands and whispered reassurances, and Bobby had started researching stuff and they realized that he had anxiety. And they helped him with it.

His parents didn’t when he told them about it. His father told him to stop being dramatic and get over it. His mother looked torn, but didn’t say anything, and later he heard them arguing how it was her fault for letting him do ballet.

So Alex sought refuge in the band they formed, and even though he sometimes felt like he wasn’t good enough, that the others were all way more talented than him, and would decide to get a new drummer along the way, he also enjoyed it. And when the gigs started coming in, and he felt like throwing up before and couldn’t stop drumming on his thighs until he was actually performing he knew that this was what he wanted to do.  
And when they booked their first gig at an actual club, three days before Bobby was set to turn fifteen, and they got drunk from his mum’s alcohol because drinking laws were weird here anyway, and his dad had given him the occasional beer for a year, he knew that this was what he wanted to keep doing.

When they got drunk again on his fifteenth birthday and he told them about his crush on Brady from chemistry, tripping over his words and twisting his hands, they received him with open arms and nothing but love, and he knew that whatever happened he’d have someone to have his back. And they knew he’d do the same in return.

So, two years later, when Luke announced he’d booked them a gig in Miami of all places, and he hadn’t spoken a word to his parents in two months, and none of them had slept anywhere but at Bobby’s mostly empty mansion for longer, he suggested they could use this as the stepping stone they’d been searching for. The chance for escape, because they knew it was just going to be them, flying three thousand miles to a new, probably too big, too loud city that would offer them the life they dreamed of. When they stepped onto the plane, and sat in their seats, clutching at each other’s hands and staring out the window at the diminishing city underneath them, he felt calm beneath all his anxiety.

Because Alex had never liked moving. But he liked moving on.

——

Luke had not wanted to move to LA, but he had to, no matter how much he cried.

He liked Québec, and he didn’t want to live somewhere it almost never snowed and there were forest fires every year. He begged his mom to stay, at least for another Carnaval de Québec, because he wanted to see Bonhomme Carnaval, and marvel at the ice sculptures and play hockey on the fleuve Saint-Laurent one last time, and see the caribou. She’d sighed and looked sad, but told him they couldn’t, but maybe they’d visit his grandparents during Carnaval at some point.  
They hadn’t, yet.

Luke had always been restless as a child, trying out anything he could get his hands on but still never feeling really satisfied, always missing something. He’d played football and hockey and went kayaking and scuba diving, made his dad go sailing with him, dabbled in different instruments for his school’s orchestra. On holidays in France they went hiking in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and he learned to climb them, he developed an interest in the cuisine and started cooking with his mother, who delighted in him showing interest in her culture. He liked many things he did, and gathered skills, but he also lost interest in them just as fast as gaining it.

His parents gave him the opportunity to try out as many things as he wanted, probably tired of him bouncing up the walls in their house, and so, at first, they were happy when he stuck to playing the guitar. They gifted him one for Christmas, and got him a teacher.  
Monsieur Lavoie was older, but nice and patient and showed him all the tricks and tips and applauded the loudest at shows the music school put on. He told Luke of his past as a band’s guitarist and let him play on the electric he had in the back of his classroom, and taught Luke the basics of songwriting. Monsieur Lavoie also continued to see him after his parents cut him off from the guitar lessons because he’d gotten ‘too obsessed with music and lost sight of what was important’.

Luke didn’t like school. It was hard to sit still and concentrate on what the teachers were telling him. What did he care for English vocabulary if there was a world to explore and a song to be written? He couldn’t concentrate all that well, either, because the words and numbers and everything he had to learn just kept getting away from him. His mind couldn’t stay focused on the one hundred words he had to write about some book they’d read of which he couldn’t even remember the plot because there were two magpies outside the window, or a new lyric had popped into his head, or his hand hurt from a wrong move during karate the day before. He started building guitars with elastic strings, and since it seemed to help him a bit his teachers let him keep it.

He didn’t like school, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, not during his time in Québec, anyway. But then they moved to LA because his mother had gotten sick of the cold and snow every year, and there had been good job opportunities in California, and so off they were. Luke had also always been somewhat stubborn. And he was angry. At his parents for ripping him out of his life. Angry at the americans around him for only speaking English, and angry at his new school, because they treated him like he was dumb for not being able to concentrate. His mother sighed, when he went home and she’d gotten another call from the school, and she pleaded with him to just speak English.  
“Lucas, mon coeur,” she’d say and hug him, a phrase he’d gotten to associate with disappointment.

They put him in an extra class to learn English better, and that was horrible until he met the two kids already there.

Reggie Peters was awesome. He had a bit of an accent, that Luke couldn’t place at first, and told him about Norway and the cold and the fjords and most importantly, he’d leaned over to Luke and told him how cool he was five minutes after they first met when Luke had refused to talk in English to Mr Rudland, who was just too tired to argue with him. Reggie also played the bass guitar and that was way too cool for Luke to not be his friend.

Alex Mercer was awesome, too. He’d looked a bit nervous when Luke had first seen him, and his accent was thicker than Reggie’s, and he had problems with different words, but he was sarcastic and rolled his eyes at Mr Rudland’s fruitless tries to get him to speak English, and had grinned when Luke had introduced himself in English to them. Alex was German and talked about living in Berlin and laughed at him trying to pronounce german words. Alex was also patient, both with him and Reggie, and helped them with their homework when words got to be too much, because he didn’t love reading, but he could do it better than the both of them. And Alex played the drums, and had his own kit at home.

Luke knew almost from the get go that these two boys would stick with him, because the three of them sat in the stuffy room, Luke playing on his elastic band guitar, and Alex drumming on the desk with pencils, and Reggie humming along. Creating music with them was good, made him focused, and made him forget about the slight disappointment on his parent’s face, when he’d wished for his very own electric guitar that Christmas.

Bobby Wilson joined them a year later in seventh grade, and he was awesome. He gave the teachers a dirty look when they told him to finish words and lose some of his accent, and was almost as witty as Alex, and got along with Reggie, mostly, and he spoke with his hands sometimes, which was just cool. Luke suggested they learn sign language too, to help Bobby and also because it would just be cool to have their own little way of communicating, and it was hard, and also the wrong sign language at first, but also interesting. Also Bobby played the acoustic guitar, and after they’d snuck into the band room again, they decided to start a band.

Things had never been better for Luke in terms of friendship, but apart from that his life seemed to be a mess. He had his three friends and their band, and he learned to bake all the different pies Bobby kept talking about from back in England, and to bake ‘actual’ bread because Alex just would not stop complaining about american bread, and he read up on Reggie’s condition on the internet and made sure to keep cold wipes ins his backpack from then on. At home, things were different. His mom and dad told him to start paying more attention in school, that he should forget about the band because it was unrealistic and childish, and they tried taking away his guitar until he ran to Bobby’s giant house and made him promise to take care of it. They argued about his grades, and didn’t really believe it when he told them that he couldn’t focus, no matter how hard he tried.

So he threw himself into the band, and it paid off. Before Bobby’s fifteenth birthday they booked their first big gig, and to celebrate that and Bobby, they raided his mother’s alcohol cabinet, and got drunk, because they could. He learned to make cocktails after that, because they realized drinking was more than taking shots.

Luke stayed over at Bobby’s more and more, because Bobby was alone a lot, and hated it when his mother was there, because she slurred her speech and paid no mind to him, and it was easier to bear if someone was there. Luke bought a pink hoodie for Alex after seeing photos of him as a child in pink ballet shoes, and Alex expressed how much he missed it. And he pulled Reggie away from arguments on the streets, and made sure all the fridges everywhere they went were always stocked full with cold things.

He moved in, almost fully, with Bobby after Christmas when he was 16 because the arguments were just too much, and more often than not they found themselves in that same little group as they had been years ago on that room, sitting at the edge of Bobby’s pool, legs dangling in the water, throwing lyrics and melodies around.

Gigs began to add up, and when he got the offer to play at a festival in Miami, he said yes without hesitation. Alex, quietly, in the middle of the night, suggested that this could be it. The moment they ran away, and maybe Luke had taken the gig in Miami because subconsciously he’d also known this was the one where they’d get away.

So they packed their bags and took the flight, and Bobby had gotten them a boat so they could celebrate under the stars, and really, if they were together, what could go wrong?

——

Bobby hadn’t been a fan of the move to the US when his mum suggested it, and there hadn’t been much since arriving that had changed his mind.

For starters, they were moving to a city, and as nice as weekend trips to London to see Carrie and his dad had been, he’d spent most of his life in a small village in North Yorkshire, and a city in California was kind of his worst nightmare.

For seconds, he’d barely gotten to see his dad and half-sister when they’d lived a two hour train ride away. Moving several thousand miles away would mean what little time he did get with them would be over facetime or phone calls, instead of letting Carrie drag him down Oxford Street or badgering Trevor until he gave in and took them for sushi at UNI in Belgravia.

Thirdly, living alone with his mum had been difficult enough when he’d known everyone in his village, when neighbours would offer him bread or trade sugar for a cup of tea and a conversation if he was up to it, when Mrs Thorpe from Number 3 had been willing to check by on evenings when his mum’s car had never turned up on the street, and make sure he’d had something for tea. The idea of moving to a city where he didn’t know anyone - and according to the precursory google searches he’d done, BSL and ASL weren’t regional dialects or slightly different versions of the same thing, they were what the website he’d found had called “mutually unintelligible” so he might not even be able to communicate half the time - was pretty damn terrifying. He’d either have to get his act together with the speech therapy his mum had been pushing, or learn a whole new language, and neither sounded like the kind of thing he wanted to add to the stress of moving continents.

Their place in LA was kind of… huge.

Honestly, Bobby couldn’t decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. He knew his dad had put money towards it, because his dad would never dream of letting his mum drag him around the world without making sure they could actually afford a place to live, but more space meant more rooms to look in and imagine what life would have been like if he’d actually gotten to grow up with his sister and his dad, and more rooms for his mum’s weird guests who only ever stayed a night or two.

The school system was different, too - he’d been promised by his year seven teacher that they’d split into separate sciences for year eight, so he could finally start zoning out in physics without worrying that he’d missed something interesting in chemistry or biology. Plus, his friend in year nine had been telling him that they’d get put into sets for maths, so instead of having to go at a slower pace for the kids who didn’t get stuff as easily, and having to pause for a tangent that one of the brightest kids set them off on, he could work in a class with everyone going at a similar pace.

Instead, he got life science, earth science, and physical science, with the latter being a weird combination of physics and chemistry, which just sounded like another year of desperately trying not to seem like a shitty student so that the teacher took him seriously during chemistry lessons, but not paying so much attention that he got called on during physics.

Bobby wasn’t sure if the extra-English-help class he ended up shoved into was because of his occasional and seemingly random inability to speak, or if it was because his teachers had gotten sick of underlining words like aluminium and honour and colour in red.

He wasn’t sure particularly if he cared, seeing as the three other boys in his period were pretty cool.

There was Reggie, who was the kind of boy Carrie probably would’ve described as pretty, who was infuriating but also funny enough that Bobby only occasionally wanted to dive across the table and throttle him, who spoke like he was singing, Alex, who looked more like Carrie’s brother than Bobby ever had, whose voice shook when he tripped over sentences with too many ‘w’s, but who had the sharpest sense of humour Bobby had yet to encounter this side of the Atlantic, and Luke, who played guitar on elastic bands with more skill than Bobby had ever seen on an actual guitar, and who stopped speaking English the second the teacher walked into the room.

The four of them, well, the three of them plus Bobby, were close as anything by the time the band they formed to wile away evenings - evenings where Bobby’s mum wasn’t home, and Reggie’s parents were fighting, and Luke needed something to do, and Alex just wanted to wear pink - started picking up gigs.

It was weird, being friends with them. They’d known each other longer, which was the biggest hurdle he had to jump, and although it wasn’t always at the forefront of his mind, some days it felt like he still hadn’t managed it. The next hurdle was the whole language thing. It was hard to bond over a love of learning each other’s languages when some days he couldn’t get a single word out, and he just couldn’t drop his accent, even when he switched languages, and sometimes he couldn’t get past feeling like they were laughing at him, instead of with him, when they tried to coach him through pronunciations, and as fun as it was to teach his friends to sign, it always felt like they had to put in more effort than he was, especially since he didn’t really need them to learn much more than the emergency stuff, thanks to notepads and text-to-speech.

The good days were definitely worth the hours of staring at his phone, wondering if sending the first text to a group chat since last night would look too desperate, or if they’d appreciate home cooked - by himself, obviously, his mum would never stay at home long enough to figure out the oven - soup before practice. The gigs started paying, and so did the attention. They booked their first club three days before Bobby’s fifteenth, and having two friends from Europe, and Luke, whose mum was French Anyways, suddenly became a hell of a lot more worth it, when they were just as eager to raid his mum’s alcohol cupboard for his birthday party/booking celebration as he was, without any mention of drinking laws, like he’d heard at school when someone mentioned the beer seen at a senior’s party.

And he did love them, even if he wasn’t always certain they loved him back with the same voracity, so when Luke booked them a gig three thousand miles away, he packed his bag, and when Alex pointed out that it would be the perfect opportunity to run away, like they’d always absently planned to, he doubled his shifts at the cafe on Grand Avenue in the run up, then quietly handed in his notice, and when Reggie suggested they spend their first free night on the water, he called ahead to hire a boat. He texted Carrie to let her know everything, just in case everything went totally tits up, and he grabbed Alex’s hand when they got out of the taxi at the airport, because he was scared of flying, and he didn’t look back.

——

Luke should’ve expected that Alex would freak out when Bobby pulled the rum Luke had asked him to bring out of his suitcase, but they’d made it past security and all the way to Miami fine, so he’d kind of figured it would be a none-issue. It wasn’t.

“Do you have any idea how stupid that was?” Alex asked Bobby shrilly when Bobby got them out to shove in his backpack. “We are _four years_ too young here!”

Bobby rolled his eyes, shoving a fleece into his bag next. “‘Lex, we’re fine, everyone is fine. We’re in Florida, three thousand miles from our folks, we have a boat, we have drinks. Luke even brought you beer, because your tastebuds are fucked.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you essentially smuggled alcohol across the country,” Alex insisted. “What would’ve happened if it went wrong?”

Reggie cleared his throat. “We’re already running away, Lexi. What does this add to the list of things to get in trouble for?”

Luke nodded, waving an arm around as he tossed a couple of cans of beer at Bobby to pack.  
“C’mon, Al. It’s the weird German stuff you like, let’s go stargaze.”

Alex sighed, but finally relented. “If that’s less than eight percent, I’m gonna kill you.”

Luke pressed his palm to his chest. “As if I would ever get you anything less.”

“We’ve known you’re a choosy bastard since that time your mum gave you a sandwich with store-bought bread for lunch,” Bobby reminded him, swinging his bag into his back. “Now let’s move it, lads, the stars await.”

Reggie shoved him gently, but grabbed his swimming trunks and ducked into the bathroom before anyone could beat him to it. “You might wanna change out of your jeans, first, Bobbers. Swimming in those would suck.”

——

Luke pulled himself out of the water and back into the boat and flopped down next to Alex. “You sure you’re not gonna join us? The water’s incredible.”

Alex shook his head firmly. “You know I hate the ocean, man. Besides, a storm is building, we shouldn’t stay out here too long,” he said, pointing to the horizon. It was too dark to see properly, but there was enough moonlight to make out the clouds gathering.

“Franchement? That’s hours away,” Luke protested. “C’mon, man.”

“The swells are already getting bigger.” Alex pointed to where Bobby and Reggie were taking turns dunking each other under. After a moment he sighed and grinned. “Besides, no drinking until you stop swimming.”

Luke laughed and nodded, twisting to wave to get Reggie and Bobby’s attention. “Boys! Alex says drinking time!”

The pair cheered and quickly swam back in, taking the towels and fleeces Alex offered them once they’d awkwardly heaved themselves back into the boat.

“First night of freedom, boys,” Luke announced, holding up a beer. He hated them, but if he even looked for too long at the rum, either Reggie or Bobby would remind him of the last time he’d thought he had any tolerance for spirits, and Alex would laugh at him. Again. He paused for Alex to knock his own beer against it, and quickly Reggie and Bobby bumped their plastic cups with them as well. “We’ve got that club gig tomorrow, and that’ll be the beginning of the rest of our lives.”

“Slàinte mhath,” Bobby toasted.

“You’re still not Scottish,” Reggie said, as he always did. Then, “Skål.”

“Prost,” Alex added, leaned back into the driver's seat.

“Santé,” Luke finished, taking a swig and immediately coughing once he’d managed to swallow it. “‘Lex, this is disgusting.”

“No, you’re just uncultured,” Alex informed him primly. “Besides, it’s either this, or you having a fifth of what these fools are, and getting drunk in a fifth of the time.”

Luke pulled a face. “It’s not my fault that my parents are the only ones who drink wine, and the hardest to steal from.”

“Shut up and drink,” Bobby joked. “Next up, forever, remember?”

——

By the time the storm hit properly, Alex was the only one anywhere close to sober enough to drive, and the only one who hated driving with such an intense passion that he would even consider handing over the wheel to any of the rest of them.

Luke didn’t even try, letting Reggie take over when Bobby tripped trying to change seats.  
Reggie made a quiet sound of distress. “Wait, why did we let me do this?”

Alex shrugged helplessly. “Bobby’s fucked, Luke is worse, and I’m one big wave from losing my mind.”

“Faen i helvete,” Reggie muttered under his breath as the boat was pushed by a wave that had Alex reaching for Bobby’s hand. Luke squinted at Reggie. “I think… I think we’re best to ride it out, boys.”

Bobby snorted. “Oh, ‘cause that’ll go great, haven’t you fucking watched Frozen?”

“Bobby!” Reggie reprimanded when Alex blanched. “Shush!”

“Shit, sorry, man,” Bobby said quietly, managing to pull Alex into some weird attempt at a hug that involved far more awkwardly splayed limbs than Luke thought it ought to.

“Look, there’s.” Reggie paused. “Fuck, Luke, you know the thing, right? Where there’s dry land in the middle of the water? What’s it called? It’s called…Øy? Island! There’s an island… my depth perception is fucked, but it’s not too far.”

Luke blinked. “Dude, I have no clue about… anything, but swimming and alcohol is definitely bad.”

Alex cleared his throat, still looking like the best option to him was jumping in and letting the waves take him. “I know where you mean, Reg, we’re moving that way. No swimming, we should wash up there.”

“Well, it was nice knowin’ y’s,” Bobby said faintly.

Luke struggled to sit up straighter. Panic was pushing the alcohol aside steadily, but the boat was still rocking like crazy.  
“We’re not gonna die, Bobby,” he insisted.

——

“There’s gotta be a cave or something around here somewhere,” Bobby insisted, having apparently regained his ability to complain and walk at the same time. “Somewhere dry or-” he cut himself off and disappeared from sight.  
Reggie scrambled forward, dropping to his knees as he reached the hole he’d fallen into. “Bobby?”

“Oh, fuck,” Bobby groaned. “I’m fine! But it’s dry in here, if you don’t mind the slide down. Reg, be careful, okay? It’s gonna hurt.”

Reggie swallowed visibly, then slid himself down, swearing the whole time. “Al, you next!” Once they were all down there, Bobby checking Reggie over to make sure he hadn’t caught his ribs even though he insisted he was fine, Alex started looking around. Finally safe, Luke felt the tingle of the beer in his fingertips again.

“This way,” Alex said, stood next to what looked like some sort of tunnel. “We should find an exit before the adrenaline fades and-”

“Right,” Luke agreed, stumbling towards him. “Drunk.”

Alex nodded, climbing up into the tunnel. After a moment he called back through. “There’s some kind of… volcano, I guess? But there’s a pool in the bottom, and I think it leads back out to sea.”

“Is back out to sea the best idea?” Bobby asked, suddenly at Luke’s side. “Heat loss, drunk swimming… we’re kinda fucked.”

Reggie shook his head and climbed up to follow Alex. “We should check that it leads out, then come back in to wait out the storm.”

Luke glanced at Bobby in question, but as expected he just raised both hands in surrender. “Reg is the swimmer, mate.”

“If I drown, will you sing one of your sea shanties at my funeral?” He asked instead of protesting further, clambering clumsily after the other two. “I liked that Wellerman one - woah…” Bobby shoved him out of the way gently, catching him with a hand fisted in his shirt.

“We go in, we follow the tunnel until we make it to the sea, then we come back, ja?” Alex reminded them, pinching the inside of his wrist nervously.

Reggie nodded. “You’ll be fine, bro. Just kick your legs and scoop your arms, yeah?”

“I know,” Alex snapped, then sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Luke shook his arms out, then peeled the fleece back off. “Enweille!”

Just as they lowered themselves into the water, the clouds broke overhead, and for a minute, the full moon shone directly into the pool, and the water began to bubble around them.

“Is anyone else seeing the bubbles, or am I that smashed?” Bobby asked quietly, poking a bubble as it floated up past his head.

“What the fuck,” the four of them said at the same time as the water continued to bubble, until the clouds came together again and rain started falling through the top of the volcano and it all died away.


	2. A Guide On How Not To Stay On Topic By Sunset Curve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie wants nothing more than to spend her summer holidays in Puerto Rico with her dad and her best friend, but of course nothing ever goes right for her, and instead of surfing and finding herself she finds four mermen with questionable brains and a more questionable backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi kiddos, welcome to another week of pure fuckin' chaos from me and lotte!! i hope y'all enjoy :)))

Julie didn’t know what exactly she’d expected coming to Puerto Rico for a holiday. It wasn’t like she’d expected that suddenly everything would fall back into place, she really hadn’t. But she’d hoped it was going to be easier. She’d hoped the tropical heat and the smell of the ocean and the little house on the side of Tio Rafael’s property would make the pain less, somehow. But she woke up every morning, and listened to the waves crash and the birds sing, and it still _hurt_ .   
Flynn was a big help. She’d been excited for this from the second Julie had invited her along, and spending the day showing her around all the places Julie’d known since she was a little girl definitely helped get her excitement back. Flynn hadn’t even asked, but decided they’d sleep in the same bed, even though they had two bedrooms and a pull out sofa in the ‘shed’ as Rafael called it, and she’d been eating the fresh coconuts from the trees basically non-stop.   
But Julie still felt like something was missing - because it was.

Her mamá had always woken her up with the rising sun, to go out and greet it in the water, surf through the kaleidoscope of colours in the crashing waves. She’d sung songs with her, too, making up little ones in spanish and english, and juggled passion fruit, while laughing at Julie’s and Carlos’s fruitless attempts to imitate her.

Now it was just Julie and Flynn in their own little shed, and her dad in the main house, and Carlos away at summer camp in the States with Tia Victoria there if anything happened. They would come in two weeks. Tio Rafael was still on his own holidays, travelling through Asia, and so the big house and vast expanse of private, untouched beach was theirs, and theirs only.

Julie felt the sand under her bare feet, still cool from the night, and heard the waves become louder and louder as she trekked to the spot she and her mamá had always gone to surf. It was hidden a bit, between rocks and mangroves that stood dry when the tide receded. She took a deep breath, and stopped, before the last corner. She was going to go and surf. She hadn’t in over a year, and she missed it - so, so much. But she just couldn’t bear it, stepping into their little shed at home, seeing her mom’s surfboard next to her own, leaning alone and forever unused.

The board under her arm was one that belonged to one of her cousins, she couldn’t remember which, but the point was, it wasn’t personalized, it was just a simple store bought board, and that was what she needed. 

All Julie wanted to do was feel the ocean spray on her face, and the board under her feet, and the wave racing alongside her. She wanted to hear the ocean sing to her again, and within its voice, find her own again. She had to do this.   
With another deep breath she steeled herself and rounded the stone. Instead of the open, turquoise expanse of sea, devoid of people that she was expecting she found something else.   
  
Someone else. Or something? The board slipped out of her grip, and hit the sand, missing her foot narrowly. 

Four _things_ were lying in the shallow water, waves lapping at them lazily. They looked human, partly. The parts of them that didn't were, well... 

There was a… guy? Maybe? One of them, with blond hair and pale skin, he lay farthest away from the ocean, halfway on his side. His skin was incredibly pale. Almost inhumanly so, but, okay, anemia was a thing that existed, even if this was well beyond anything she’d seen. The truly, really, inhumane thing was the. The tail? Where his naked torso should continue on into his hips and legs, there was a light pink...tail. It was the colour of the rose quartz she kept in her room, with some darker parts on it, not quite stripes, more like shadows. And there were _fins_ . Long, thin, almost translucent fins, plastered to the rest of the scaly mass, ending in another, longer fin at the end of his tail. It was long, and slim, and the _caudal_ , her brain supplied helpfully, fin was moving in the water, dancing with the current in a way that reminded her of the kelp forest in the aquarium back home 

Next to him was another one of.. them. He was smaller, by maybe a foot or two, than the one in pink, and sturdier. His hair was black, and he was on his back, eyes closed. His tail was a lot less elaborate, a dark grey-ish green colour, that went down straight and without any additional fins into the caudal one. His tail looked like what she’d seen in drawings of mermaids, which they couldn’t be. Mermaids weren’t a real thing.   
Besides, they would look similar, wouldn’t they? Because the other two were massive. Next to the one with black hair was one that was double his size, somewhere near twelve or thirteen feet long. His hair seemed to be dark brown, and he lay on his stomach, one hand extended to the other one. Ruby red scales scattered across his back and shoulders, which were wide and softer than the other two. Where the pink one was angular and lean, and the grey was padded with muscle, this one was mostly fat, as far as Julie could tell, and the scales seemed to get closer and closer together until they closed into the tail, which looked very different from the others. Less fish-like. More like… Her mind was running a mile a minute. It looked like it should belong to a beluga whale, probably, but it wasn’t white, or skin, like the whale in question, it was covered in red scales, glistening under the morning sun like freshly cut and polished rubies. He was so big, so massive that Julie felt dwarfed just looking at him. The last one, next to him was a bit smaller but still big. Nine or ten feet maybe. 

He was also on his side, an arm cushioning his head, floppy brown hair falling over his face. His tail was blue-ish, and she could see the underside of it, a white not quite stripe pulling down the middle, the scales lightening from an almost midnight blue at his hip to sky blue in the fin which was distinctively whale-like. 

As Julie stared in shock, desperately trying to make sense of what was going on, they started moving and groaning, mumbling words in languages she couldn’t understand. The one with the blue fin lifted his head, slowly, and his blue, searching eyes landed on her.   
Julie screamed.

In hindsight, maybe that wasn’t the wisest decision, but she couldn’t do anything else. The four all jumped, clinging to each other, then taking each other in, looking as surprised about their tails as she felt. They started screaming as well, loudly so, a cacophony of sounds bouncing back from the stones behind Julie. She turned and ran, still screaming, coming to a stop a hundred feet away, clamping her mouth shut. She was crazy. This was crazy. What the fuck? She must have been hallucinating. Julie took a deep breath in, ground her toes into the warming sand. This was her turf. She turned around, her hair whipping through the air with her. This was crazy. This wasn’t - _couldn’t_ be real. She was going to go back there, and she was going to see nothing but the sea and her surfboard, and she was going to surf.   
The four things - she refused to accept that they were mermaids, or mermen - were still there, sitting up halfway, and arguing. They turned to her when she peered around the stone, still hoping that this was all a dream. 

“Where are we?” the one with the blue tail demanded. Julie was so surprised by the fact that he could _speak_ , let alone did it, that she answered without thinking. 

“Just out of Ponce, Puerto Rico,”   
They stared at her in stunned silence. She stared back.   
  
“We’re in Puerto Rico?” the blond one asked, voice cracking.   
  
“Yes,” she nodded slowly, not knowing what to do.   
  
“What the fuck!” he said, then buried his face in his hands. The smallest of them, the one with the black hair started gesticulating wildly, and it took Julie a moment before she realized that he was signing.   
  
“Alex-” the one with the red tail started, reaching out one of his massive hands to the blond one. 

“Don’t touch me!” he, Alex, apparently snapped. 

“Alex-” the one with the blue tail said, obviously trying to consolidate him.   
  
“Don’t ‘Alex’ me, Luke, we’re in Puerto Rico! In Puerto fucking Rico! How the fuck did we end up here? I told you- I told you this was a bad idea and that we shouldn’t have stayed on the boat! We shouldn’t have gotten on it in the first place!” his voice steadily rose in pitch, his chest heaving. The smallest signed something.   
  
“I’m not blaming Reg, Bobby, I’m blaming all of you for talking me into this!” Alex near yelled. “Verdammte Scheiße,” he added, more quietly. Bobby? - Julie wasn’t sure yet sighed and touched his finger against the other boy’s bicep, who let out a sob and leaned into him. The other two watched, Luke, apparently, biting his lip, looking somewhat guilty. 

“Hva i helvete,” the red one, Reg, muttered, looking as distressed and uncomfortable as Luke. “What the fuck happened to us?” he looked at Julie, as if she was going to be the one to answer him. She barely had any idea what was going on, what did he expect? 

“There was the storm, the island, that volcano thing,” Luke said. Bobby signed again, the others watching. 

“I mean yeah, we were all pretty pissed but I’m starting to think there was something in that water when the moon came out,” Reg nodded along “But that doesn’t really explain anything.”

“It sure fucking doesn’t!” Alex said, raising his head from Bobby’s shoulder. “There is literally no explanation for this! We have tails. Why do we have tails? And we’re in Puerto Rico, none of us even know Spanish!” his voice was still shrill, and he cut himself off with another very loud breath. An accent she couldn’t place shone through slightly.

“I knew I should’ve taken the Spanish course,” Reg sighed, but nodded along.   
  
“That is _so_ far from the point!” Alex shrilled. 

“Hey, Alex. Breathe. We’re gonna figure this out, I promise,” Luke said calmly, demeanor changing a bit and looking worried. Reg nodded, looking around, his eyes landing on Bobby and sticking. Alex had put his head in his hands again but seemed to try to calm down while Bobby ran a hand up and down his back. 

“Alors. Miami, storm, island, volcanic pool, moon,” Luke began again. “Water pretending to be champagne or some shit. Reggie finds the way out, we wait for the storm to pass. Does anyone remember anything after that?”   
Who was Reggie? 

“I think we all swam out later,” Reg, _oh_ , he was probably Reggie, said. Bobby nodded. 

“We did, but the water was freezing and I think I almost drowned. Can’t remember anything after that,” Alex mumbled. 

“You didn’t almost drown,” Luke protested.   
  
“I was the most sober one, and I’m pretty sure if anyone were to know I almost drowned it would be me,” 

“I had a grip on you ‘Lex, I wouldn’t have let you,” Reggie said. 

“You were way too drunk to actually do anything,” 

“Christ, Alex, you survived, didn’t you?” Luke groaned. Bobby shook his head at them and Julie watched as they started signing at each other. Apparently the whole quartet could. It looked like they were arguing. 

“Uhm,” Julie said after a minute. Reggie squeaked, a sound way too small for his size. They turned to her. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but what exactly are you doing on my beach?” 

They gawked at her. 

“This is your beach? Are you rich or something?” Reggie asked, then grinned and turned to Bobby, who was staring at him. “Hey, does your dad have a beach?”

Julie didn’t have to understand sign language to understand what the gesture of an extended middle finger along with the eyeroll meant. 

“It’s not actually my beach, it’s my Tío’s, I’m just on vacation-” Julie cut herself off. “Which is not the point, what are you doing here? What _are_ you?”   
“Okay, _rude_ ,” Luke started, but Reggie interrupted him. “Are you a witch? Did you do this to us?”   
Julie drew in a sharp breath. “Excuse me?”   
“Okay- there is no such thing as witches,” Alex said at the same time, huffing a bit as he was pulling himself completely out of the water.   
“Oh, really? Because I thought there was no such things as mermaids either, and look at us!”   
“I don’t think we’re mermaids,” Luke pulled himself further up the beach, with even more effort than Alex, it seemed, and leaned back on his hand, surveying his tail. “None of us are girls.”   
“Maybe mermaid is the gender neutral term,” Reggie guessed.   
“I don’t think it is,” Alex said slowly, shaking his head slightly. Then “He’s right, mermen are a thing.” gesturing towards Bobby.   
Luke wiggled back and forth, moving his caudal fin, which was still in the water, up and down slowly. ”Yeah, in fiction,” he said.   
“No, in German they’re definitely a thing. Meerjungfrau and Wassermann,” Alex said shaking said, shaking his head. He tentatively reached out and peeled one of the fins coming out of the side of his tail, just underneath were it morphed into his torso, of the scales. So that was the accent.   
“Yeah, but German genders everything, which is hella unnecessary,” Luke remarked.   
Alex glared at him. “And French doesn’t? Try again, Monsieur la chaise, when it’s clearly der Stuhl!”   
Bobby smacked him lightly, signing energetically pointedly .   
“Sorry, you’re right. Not the time,” Alex mumbled.   
“Merperson?” Luke suggested.   
“We’re all guys, I think mermen is fitting,” Reggie said.   
Julie stared at them. What the fuck was up with these guys?   
“Uhm,” she repeated herself, shrinking back a bit when they all stared at her again. “That didn’t really answer my question? What are you doing here?”   
“We don’t really know how we ended up here,” Luke said.   
“Okay. Can you leave again?”   
“I’m not going back in the fucking water. I’d rather die,” Alex said, blanching. Bobby signed something.   
“Thanks, that really helps,” Alex smiled sweetly, but his sarcastic tone gave him away. “Reminding me that sea creatures which wash up on beaches usually dry out and die, really calms me down, thanks, Bobby.”   
“Oh, Alex c’mon,” Reggie said softly. Then he looked at Julie, and smiled at her. Even though he was fucking gigantic she immediately felt a bit calmer. “I’m sorry, please don’t kick us off your beach, we’re trying to figure everything out right now. It’s confusing as fuck.”   
“Tell me about it,” she sighed. “I just wanted to surf and found… whatever you guys are instead.”   
“You surf?” Luke asked, suddenly very interested in her. She glanced at him, taken aback. Were they even capable of holding one conversation on the same topic?   
“I... used to, yeah,” she admitted, slowly, trying to push the pain that came with every mention of it back down.   
“That’s dope,” Luke grinned.   
“Also not the point, fucking hell, Luke, stay on topic,” Alex said.   
Luke drew in a scandalized breath. “You can’t stay on topic either!”   
“Yes, I can, more than you anyway,”   
“Are you sure? Because I clearly remember the time-” Luke began, clearly intending on telling some story that Alex didn’t like, because the other boy squawked. Bobby signed something, very probably at Julie, because he was looking at her, clearly apologetic.   
“Oh!” Reggie said, watching Bobby, then smiled at Julie again. “He says he’s sorry for the idiots, and that we washed up here.”   
The other two gasped in unison, turning to Bobby who just shrugged.   
“Thanks, I guess? I mean, it’s not really your fault, from what I’ve gathered,” Julie nodded. They nodded. All five of them kind of stared at each other awkwardly. The sun kept rising higher, and heating up the sand under her feet.   
“Do you guys want sunscreen?” she blurted out, before thinking. They gaped at her. “I mean, you’re all very… white,” she added, feeling foolish.   
“That would be great,” Reggie said, after another moment of awkward silence. Julie nodded and made to go, but turned around again.   
“I guess, I guess you can stay here, until you figure things out. People won’t see you, if you stay directly on the beach or near it,” she offered.   
Some of the tension left their shoulders.   
“Thank you,” Luke said sincerely. “I’m Luke, by the way, and this is Bobby,” he gestured at the boy who raised a hand and offered a small smile.   
“I’m Reggie, hi,” Reggie said, smiling and waving.   
“Alex, how’s it going?” Alex said, sounding most awkward out of all of them.   
“Uh okay,” did she mention that she’d gotten there already? Or would that just lead to them going wildly off topic again, not letting her leave? “I’m Julie,” she said.   
“Hi Julie,” Reggie waved at her. Bizarre. Absolutely bizarre.   
“Okay, I’ll get some… a lot of sunscreen. It might take a bit, so please don’t go anywhere,” she said.   
“I mean, we can’t really go anywhere anyway, even if we wanted to,” Luke said, splashing with his tail for emphasis. She rolled her eyes.   
“Just. Just don’t do anything stupid, I’ll try to be quick,” she pleaded, and hurried away before she could hear their protests. This was crazy. Absolutely batshit crazy. She needed Flynn.   
Julie ran all the way back to the house, pausing to say goodbye to her dad, who had some kind of shooting all day long. He kissed her head and smiled, and told her to have fun today. She didn’t know whether today was going to be fun, or what it was going to be, but it was going to be a _day_ for sure. Flynn was pulling on a light summer dress over her bikini, when Julie practically kicked the door down.   
“Jeez, Jules. Are you okay?” she asked. She’d been up when Julie had gone to the beach, and offered to come with her. If not for her, the last year would have been, well. A lot more awful.   
“Yeah,” Julie panted. “I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I need you to come with me, right now.”   
Flynn gave her a confused look. “Are you sure you’re okay?”   
“I’m fine. We need a lot of sunscreen,” Julie said, rifling through her beach bag.   
“Julie, what is going on?” Flynn sounded seriously worried. Julie turned to her, taking her best friends hands.   
“I know that this is going to sound crazy, I know, okay? But I found four… mermen. Mer-guys? Dudes with fishtails, on the beach,” she shushed Flynn when she opened her mouth. “I know how hard that is to believe. But they’re all white and they need sunscreen. I promise you don’t need to worry about me, just. Please, help me find some more, and I’ll show you.”

Flynn didn’t believe her, but helped anyway. They gathered five tubes, from their space and the main house, which wouldn’t be nearly enough, but a start, at least. The sun beat down on them, baking the white sand as they raced back. Flynn still shot Julie worried looks but was too busy focusing on not losing her sandals in the sand to comment on it.  
They rounded the last stone again, and stopped short. Three of them were still where and how Julie’d left them, maybe fifteen minutes ago. Bobby, who had shifted closer to Reggie, as evident by the deep marks in the sand. Reggie, and Luke. They still had their tails and they were still massive. Alex wasn’t. Alex was a few feet in front of them on the beach, in a light pink t-shirt and black shorts. On legs. Also yelling.   
“I just told you I don’t know what happened! One second I had this fucking tail and the next, my legs!”   
Flynn dropped the bottles she’d been holding, coincidentally standing right next to where Julie had dropped the surfboard, so they clattered down. Alex turned, the other guys stared at them.   
“What the fuck,” Flynn said. 

__

Alex has been a merman for all of ten minutes - maybe, he’d only been _aware_ of his merman-ness for ten minutes, anyway - and he already fucking hated it. 

It was a mixture of things _._ The fact that they were mythical beings that didn’t exist was pretty high up there, but Bobby’s hands were faltering which means he was spiralling just as fast as Alex, which meant Reggie would start getting touchy soon as well, and Alex suddenly didn’t even have a fucking tail, but he didn’t know _why_ , and he didn’t understand why not of the other boys had changed back, or why he and Bobby weren’t much bigger than normal-sized when Reggie and Luke were so much bigger and-

“- is Flynn,” Julie was saying when Alex managed to drag himself back into the conversation. “She’s going to help me before you all get sunburn.” 

Reggie shifted uncomfortably. “This would be a lot easier if we were human-sized again. I don’t think either of you are tall enough for me.” 

“Hey, hey,” Luke called. “Look at Bobby! The champagne bubble things again!”

They all turned to look at Bobby as he was cocooned in the champagne bubbles that had enveloped Alex only minutes ago. Seconds later they vanished, and Bobby was back in his swimming trunks and an old fleece of Luke’s. 

“What the _fuck,”_ Flynn repeated, drawing their attention back to her. “Seriously, who are you? What’s going on?” 

Luke flashed her a smile. “Flynn, it’s lovely to meet you, I’m Luke, but we’re having a crisis, and our two most anxious members are now panicking about why they’re human and we’re not, and soon Bobby isn’t gonna be able to talk to us at _all_ , so if we could…” he made a circular motion with his hand. 

Julie cleared her throat. “Alex and Bobby, I think, were further from the water?” She suggested. “Maybe… I mean, you’re mermen, let’s forget logic. Maybe they were just the driest?” 

Flynn raised her hand. “Are we not gonna circle back to them being mermen? That feels like a thing we should revisit."

“Just… pretend you’re dreaming,” Julie told her, picking her way down the beach towards them. “It’s what I’ve been doing.” 

Alex watched her get closer to Reggie, suddenly throwing it into perspective how fucking huge his best friends now were. Bobby hovered at his side. “I think I’m hallucinating,” Alex told him faintly, picking at the skin on his finger. “The pressure of the luggage hold… I don’t know, turned the alcohol into a hallucinogen, and now I’m hallucinating.” 

Bobby nudged him gently, rolling his eyes. His gaze kept flicking back to Reggie and Luke, cheeks more pink than the situation really warranted. Alex tried to focus on teasing his friend instead of the steady rush of panic in his ears. 

“I hope Julie was right. I’m gonna lose it if I keep looking at dolphin-Luke.” He joked weakly, trying to keep his tone sing-songy, not reedy like he knew it always got when he started spiralling. “Or do you like them three times as long as you and the size of a whale?”

Bobby’s shoulder knocked into him with more force, and when Alex stopped laugh-wheezing long enough to look at him, he was scowling, face red.

“I’m sorry, that was mean,” Alex said, still smiling. He was sure he probably looked like a serial killer, but smiling was making him feel a couple inches further from the ledge of total despair, so he kept it up.

Bobby rolled his eyes. _Can we just focus on being mermen?_

“Merman aren’t real,” he replied, even as he watched the weird champagne bubbles appear around Reggie, until their normal, five foot something friend was laid, groaning. “Mermen can _not_ be real.”

Reggie laid back, fist twisted in his fleece over his ribs. “That's not how conservation of mass works,” he managed. 

“Really?” Julie asked, giving Reggie a weird look. “That’s your question right now? Conservation of mass?"

“Why would you add to my list of questions?” Alex asked shrilly at the same time. “Maths can fuck off, I’m a busy focusing on the _tails!”_

Luke heaved himself a few more feet away from the water. “Why are me and Reg mammals and you two are more fish-like?” 

Flynn held a hand up. “Why are we all just accepting that you’re _mermen_?”

Reggie shrugged. “Kinda hard to argue with it?”

The bubbles finally enveloped Luke, and Alex felt something loosen in his chest now that none of his friends were part fish, even if there was still a crawling feeling under his skin. A quick glance at Bobby showed he was in a similar position, shoulders relaxing. 

Julie dropped down to sit on the sand. “Okay. You’re all human, so let’s ignore the… tails thing, before my brain explodes. What now? You said you’re not from Puerto Rico, where are you from? 

Alex shrugged, laying down so he could stare at the sky and pretend he was back in Miami. “LA, slash Miami slash Europe? Not here, that’s for sure.”

After a moment he felt Bobby and Reggie lay down next to him as Julie choked on something. “Which one did you come from when you got in the… boat? Whatever you were talking about earlier?” 

“Miami,” Alex said at the same time as Reggie and Luke. 

Luke said something in French too quiet for Alex to discern. “Guys we have a gig in - wait, Julie, what time is it?” 

Alex determinedly continued staring at the sky. If he couldn’t _see_ Puerto Rico, there was nothing to say he was _in_ Puerto Rico. Bobby started tracing patterns on his arm. 

Julie sighed. “About eight am?” 

“Okay, we have a gig in about twelve hours, all our stuff is in a hotel room in Florida, we’ll sooner get Bobby tap dancing than Alex back in the water-"

“And we wouldn’t be able to swim back to Miami anyway because none of us have inbuilt GPS systems anyway,” Alex reminded him pointedly.

“And we wouldn’t be able to swim back to Miami anyway,” Reggie agreed. “So, what the fuck do we do?” 

Flynn sighed. “So, we’re doing this. Why don’t you use Julie’s phone to call the hotel and say you got washed out during the storm last night, so can they hold onto your rooms and you’ll pay for any extra nights when you get back? You’re gonna have to give up on that gig, though, unless you can afford an immediate flight?”

“Oh my god, is anyone else thinking of Carrie?” Luke asked, sounding mildly horrified. Honestly, Alex thought that was understandable. Bobby’s sister had flown in from London for Bobby’s sixteenth, and spent her whole trip putting the fear of god in the four of them, and out drinking them. “I’m genuinely scared right now.” 

“Back to you four not being stranded on an island,” Flynn said firmly. “Can you fly back to Miami?” 

“Bobby wants to know if we’d need passports for that,” Reggie relayed. “Because our passports are in Florida.”

Alex finally sat up, brushing sand out of his hair. “I hate flying, and we’re kind of runaways, and airports are shitty for all four of us in different ways anyway, so if there’s… I don’t know, a boat or something, that would be better.”

“That’s thirteen hours at sea, Al,” Luke told him gently. “You’d hate that even more. We can deal with an airport.”

Julie frowned. “How do you even know that? Wait, Nevermind. _Runaways?”_

Bobby slumped against Alex’s side, apparently wanting to join in without supporting his own weight. His weight was comforting, even if Alex was pretty sure his arm was going to go dead pretty soon. 

“Our parents suck,” Alex said frankly, too busy trying to rationalise all the ways that their plan to fly could go in the ass and- wait. No, that wasn’t how that one worked in English. What did Bobby always say? _It could go absolutely tits up_. He was trying to rationalise all the ways that flying could go absolutely tits up to try and sugar coat it “So we left. Next question?” 

“No,” Julie disagreed, shaking her head. “Harbouring runaways is illegal, so we deserve a little more than that if we’re going to help you.” 

“You’re helping us?” Luke asked, looking way more touched than Alex felt was reasonable. “Thanks, Julie.” 

Flynn coughed pointedly, and Luke nodded immediately. “And thank you, Flynn.” 

Julie shrugged. “What else am I supposed to do? I’m not unleashing you on the rest of Puerto Rico, it’s probably a war crime.” 

Alex tipped his head in acknowledgement. “That’s fair.” 

“So, back to why you’re runaways,” Julie reminded them, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t need some tragic backstory, but if you guys do drugs or whatever, I’m not letting you near my house.” 

“Your house?” Reggie echoed, cocking his head. Bobby pressed his cheek against Alex’s shoulder like he always did when Reggie did something cute. 

“Where else were you going to crash while you figure out how to get home?” She asked, eyebrows raised. 

Flynn pulled a face. “You are _way_ too trusting, Jules.” 

“Flynn has a point,” Alex agreed. “Not that we’re bad people, our parents just aren’t fantastic, y’know, and we got a gig in Miami, and figured it was as a good a chance as any to get out, we’re just four kids from Europe-”

“And Canada,” Luke interjected.

“-and Canada, who deal very badly with airports, and changes, and becoming mythical beings on our first night of freedom because we decided having a drink on a boat, which was _so_ stupid-”

“A drink?” Flynn repeated. “So you were serious about being drunk? How old are you?”

“Uh, seventeen?” Reggie replied.

Julie frowned. “You know the drinking age is twenty one right? And that getting drunk on a boat is stupid?” 

“The legal drinking age literally everywhere else is eighteen,” Luke explained. “If Lexi was still in Germany, he would’ve been able to buy beer and stuff for a year already.”

“Plus everybody drinks before eighteen,” Reggie added as Bobby signed lazily. “Bobby’s right, if we never came here, we’d have started drinking with our friends at about fourteen.” 

Luke laid on his front, propping his head up on his hands. If Alex was a betting man, he’d put money on Luke doing his puppy eyes at the girls. “Pretty please let us stay for a night or two? We’ll be out of your hair as soon as we figure out a way back to Florida.”

Julie, amazingly, didn’t crack. “I need to know you’re not involved with illegal stuff.” 

“We’re not,” Alex promised. “I mean, asides alcohol, but we don’t exactly have any with us, and we’re not gonna steal any. It’s just… something of home, I guess?” 

Finally, Julie softened. “You’re staying in the outhouse,” she told them firmly, standing up. “And you’re going to be quiet, and not go into the main house, and if my dad finds a fourteen-foot beluga-person in the living room, I don’t know what I’ll do, but you’ll regret it.”

Flynn stood at her shoulder, eyes narrowed. “And as soon as you can go back to Florida, you go. Understood?” 

The four of them nodded quickly, scrambling to their feet.

“Yes, ma’am,” Alex and Reggie agreed at the same time. 

Luke grinned and clapped his hands together. “You, ladies, are _angels.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we will be updating every Thursday!!


	3. So what you're saying is I could turn my blood into a slushie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie tries to hide four mermen in a shed next to her dad and fails, because mermen, and especially these ones, are not subtle at all. Luke discovers things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hello! More chaos in this lovely AU from Meg & Lotte.  
> Quick disclaimer: anxiety and fibromyalgia are portrayed through personal experiences, and for the things we don't actually are afflicted by we do research :))  
> Also, Bobby is from Yorkshire in this, so you might want to look up Ned Stark for reference.

After four days of sneaking around trying to help four mermen who didn’t have the sense god granted a pigeon return to Florida, Julie came to the conclusion that this was some kind of punishment from on-high. 

Even without the mermaid problem, and the hiding-four-guys-in-her-shed problem, the boys themselves were just… weird. 

Unfortunately, there  _ was  _ a hiding-four-guys-in-her-shed problem, so she didn’t have as much time to freak out with Flynn about every single little thing happening as she would’ve wanted, because she was a terrible liar, and her dad was a perceptive guy. 

It was difficult, to say the least, trying to get enough food for four teenage boys, as well as clothes that weren’t swimming trunks from her tìo’s bedroom, without her dad figuring something out, and it was made even more difficult by the boys’ general… oddness, and the increasing likelihood that by the time they managed to get the boys back to Florida, Julie, Flynn and Ray would be flying back there anyway. 

Today’s method of sneaking out breakfast involved a beach bag, a surfboard, and Flynn taking cutlery so that instead of taking out more ready-made food than two people could feasibly eat, they’d just look like they were planning a picnic on the beach. Hopefully, he’d let it slide.

“Julie, that’s a lot of food for two teenagers,” Ray said from behind her, watching as she stuffed a loaf of bread into her beach bag. 

Julie jumped, clutching her chest. “God, dad… you scared me. And yeah, I know it’s a lot, but we’re planning on surfing for a few hours, so we’ll probably be starving when we’re done.” 

Ray seemed to take that, because he nodded and kissed her hair. “It’s good to see you surfing again, mija. I was thinking since tomorrow will mainly be packing for Friday, we could go out for dinner tonight?” 

“Oh. Um.” Julie looked imploringly at Flynn, trying to convey that there were four idiots in the outhouse, who would probably burn the place down if left unsupervised for long enough. 

Flynn jumped in, thankfully. “Oh, but we’ve been enjoying the nights in, Ray, you don’t need to splurge on us.” 

“How about we do a movie night, then?” He offered. “I’m going out to the shops for some milk, do you want me to pick anything up?” 

“Mini-Pretzels, please,” they both said at the same time. Luke had been pleading with them to bring him mini pretzels basically since he’d gotten over the surprise of having a tail, and despite how quick the other three often were to shut him down when he got over the top about things, none of them had said anything, so Julie assumed they were vaguely important. 

Ray furrowed his eyebrows but didn’t say anything, just kissed her forehead. “I didn’t know you liked those, but I’ll see what I can find. Let me know if you change your mind about dinner, okay?”

Julie nodded and hugged him with one arm. “Thanks, dad. What are your plans for today?”

“I’m gonna go look around that  Museo de Arte Contemporáneo you two weren’t interested in,” he said, stealing a slice of toast off her plate. “Your tìo has a season pass, so I figured I’d check it out while we’re here, and since you two have plans, today seemed like a good day for it.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” Julie said. “Are you gonna take some cool pictures?”

Ray laughed and kissed her forehead again and held an arm out to Flynn, kissing her hair as well when she leaned into his side. “I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to, but I’ll at least get you one of the outsides. You better get going soon, kiddos, don’t want to let the day get too far away from you.”

“We’re going, we’re going,” Julie promised, grabbing her sunglasses and the beach bag. “Have a good day, papa.” 

“Have fun, Ray,” Flynn echoed, linking her arm with Julie’s and leading her out. 

As they got closer to the outhouse that Julie had demanded the boys stay in asides from when they were swimming, Julie began to hear a low voice, one she didn’t recognise, talking. It was accented - definitely English, but more like Sean Bean from Game of Thrones than Colin Firth - and the tone was so scathing that Julie almost recoiled into Flynn. 

“- Al, ‘ave you considered tha’ the reason you can’ rationalise anythin’ tha’ can’ be squared away nea’ly is the years you spen’ internalisin’ homophobia and ableism? Can’ you just ‘urry up and get t’ yer fuck it I’m gonna wear pink phase?”

When Alex responded, his voice was drier than Julie had ever head it. “Yeah, cheers, Bobbert, I’ve always wanted Ned Stark as my armchair psychologist. Besides, don’t pretend you’re not psychoanalysing me because you’re trying to distract from the fact that after four days you’ve relaxed enough to want to speak and you’re scared Julie and Flynn won’t like you.”

“At least I’m tryna distract myself, ‘stead’a panickin’ so ‘ard tha’ I don’ go acclima’ise ‘a’ wha’ seems ‘a’ be a permanen’ change tha’ I’ll experience every time I touch wa’er, a substance, migh’ I remind you, that’s kinda fuckin’ importan’ in everyday life,” Bobby, presumably, snapped back.

“Boys!” Julie near-yelled, bursting open the garage door to stop them fighting, then stopped short. Instead of stood or sat opposite each other, tense and ready to go at it, like she’d expected, Bobby and Alex were sat on the sofa, Alex’s feet in Bobby’s lap. Reggie and Luke were sat mere feet away, neither paying attention. “...What?” she asked, glancing at Flynn in confusion. 

“Weren’t you  _ just _ fighting?” Flynn added, raising an eyebrow. 

Alex’s eyebrows furrowed. “No?”

Bobby waved easily, but the tightness of his smile suggested Alex had been right about him being nervous to actually speak to them. “Hi.” 

Julie softened slightly. “Hi, Bobby. So, you wanna tell us about your not-fighting?” 

Luke snorted, throwing a rubber ball at the ceiling. “That was just Bobbers and ‘Lex being Bobbers and ‘Lex. You kind of have to just… acclimatise.”

“I have to acclimatise to them being horrible to each other?” Julie asked, looking back to Bobby and Alex. “And that’s just.. normal for you?” 

“They’re too emotionally unavailable to receive actual verbal affection from each other,” Reggie chimed in, not looking up from his phone. “We’re okay because we’re nice to everybody, but they’re too mean to most people for them to take it from each other.” 

“I’m not mean to everyone,” Alex protested, making grabby arms at the beach bag. “I just have a reasonable number of walls of defence in the form of sarcasm.” 

Bobby snorted. “Y’ave a fuckin’ For’ Knox ‘a’ defence walls. One buil’ ev’ry time mum ‘n’ dad didn’t complemen’ your grand achievements like bein’ the fastest sprin’er in year three.” 

“And yet I still have less than you, even though yours were built every time mum didn’t even show up to  _ see  _ you achieve things,” Alex replied without hesitation, tugging at Bobby’s shoulder until he was laid half on top of Alex. 

Bobby obligingly cuddled up to him and pressed a kiss to Alex’s shoulder, then looked up at the girls. “Wha’ can we do y’for?” 

“That still sounds like an innuendo, man,” Luke told him. “No matter how many times you say it.”

Julie watched with bemusement, handing the bag to Alex, who immediately started rifling through it. “I’m still processing the whiplash of whatever the fuck you two are doing.”

Alex tipped his head in acknowledgement. “That’s fair. Oh! Reg found a flight back to Florida that we can afford without asking Bobby’s dad for more money, but it’s not until the day after tomorrow, unfortunately.”

Flynn frowned at Reggie until he budged up close enough to Luke for her to sit next to them. “That’s when we’re flying back, what time is the flight? If we end up on the same flight, Ray is gonna notice, none of you four can lie, and someone will forget that you’re not supposed to know us.”

Julie nodded, even as Alex opened his mouth to protest. “Don’t even try it Alex, I’ve run into all four of you trying to get into the house because you got snackish at three am.”

“I just wanted something crunchy,” Luke defended himself. “They make it easier to think, and then I mentioned pretzels, which got Robert the Bruce thinking about big, soft pretzels, and then Reg wanted cinnamon rolls, because dough, and then Alex thought of cinnamon stars.”

“Robert the Bruce?” Julie and Flynn asked at the same time, choosing to ignore the rest of it. 

“Luke had a brief history obsession in eighth grade,” Reggie explained, catching Luke’s bouncy ball so he could throw it at Bobby. “So now we get history nicknames. Lexi is Alexander the Great, which is funny ‘cause he’s gay, and Alexander Flemming, and stuff. Bobbert gets Robert the Bruce, and Hreodbeorht, which is its old English equivalent.”

Bobby yelped when the ball hit him, but didn’t throw it back, just narrowed his eyes at Reggie. “Wha’ the fuck, love?”

Reggie just shrugged “It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Julie wiggled her eyebrows at Flynn when Bobby called Reggie “love”, then perched on the arm of the sofa he and Alex were occupying, waving them off when they started to sit up. “So, what’s the plan for the day?”

“Beach!” Luke, Bobby and Reggie insisted immediately, as she’d expected. “Time to test how long we can hold our breath.”

Alex rolled his eyes but nodded grudgingly, speaking before either Flynn or Julie could remind the others how creepy their speaking in unison shtick was. “I’m still not getting in the fucking water, though.”

Despite what they’d heard him say when they arrived, Bobby just nodded, patting Alex’s chest lazily. “We know, Al. You panic abou’ gettin’ home, and authori’ies a’ the airpor’, an’ we’ll panic abou’ ‘ow lovely the wa’er is, m’kay?”

“I absolutely will panic about getting back to mainland America, where we don’t have a home, because we ran away, and getting past airport security despite the aforementioned running away,” Alex nodded, smiling sardonically. “Thanks for reminding me.”

“Hey, do you think we can survive deep-sea pressure?” Luke asked, pulling Julie away from focusing on Alex and Bobby. When everyone turned to look at him, he waved a hand apologetically. “Sorry, I was just thinking about the holding our breath thing, and about how if Reg has the highest lung capacity, then we probably have adaptations based on our fish half, and since Regbert is half beluga, then he can probably hold his breath for ages, but  _ then _ i started thinking about how that could translate in other ways, and belugas can dive to eight hundred metres down, and it would be pretty sick if he could do that, but if Bertie is a Conger Eel like you said yesterday, Flynn, then he should be able to go even deeper.”

Alex groaned faintly, like he was going to throw up. “Absolutely not.”

“Xander-”

“Nope. Nein. Auf gar keinen Fall.”

Luke grinned slyly and got to his feet, grabbing the bottle of suncream Julie had left for them. “You’d have to come into the water to stop us.”

Instead of playing along, Alex just shook his head. “Not today, Lucy. Please? Can you leave that kind of thing until I’m not worrying about everything else?”

“Yeah, ‘course, man.” Luke sobered immediately, rubbing cream into his arms. “Reg, man, my back?”

“Gotcha,” Reggie said, standing up to help. They quickly passed it around the three of them, and even though she had her suspicions that Reggie and Bobby were dating, she was still surprised with how gentle Bobby was with him, like Reggie was something fragile or expensive. 

Alex must have noticed her watching because he leaned over. “Reggie has fibromyalgia,” he explained. “His shoulder blades and ribs are really pressure-sensitive. Bobby’s the best with it.”

“Oh, thanks.” Julie nodded, smiling gratefully. Then, “Are they together?”

“Oh, we have no idea.” Alex shrugged, smiling up at Flynn when she moved to join them. “I hope they’d tell us if they were, but we’re all used to knowing everything about each other and they might think it's obvious, but also they could just be  _ that _ oblivious. I don’t think they’ve even noticed each other gay-panicking over each other’s fish-forms.”

Flynn raised both eyebrows, glancing over to where the boys had finished and were grabbing the necessities for a day on the beach, as though it wasn’t only a couple hundred yards away. “They’re gay-panicking over Reggie being, like, twice the size of Bobby? You guys are  _ weird _ .”

Reggie dropped himself into Alex’s lap, pressing his cheek against Alex’s momentarily. “Why are we weird? Is Lexi telling you about period four extra English fun times?”

\----

Movie night was going fine, or at least it was up until they hit the minor snag of something falling so heavily in the shed that they heard it in the living room.

Julie’s first thought was that someone had thrown water at either Luke or Reggie, meaning there was probably a 300-1000kg merman pouting on the shed floor. 

A glance at Flynn proved that that was probably also her first thought. 

Unfortunately, but understandably, it was not her dad’s first thought, and instead of ignoring it like she’d hoped he would, he immediately got to his feet and grabbed one of her tio’s golf clubs from by the door. “Stay here, girls,” he warned, then disappeared into the kitchen to go down to the shed. 

Julie and Flynn moved practically in unison, running after him. 

“Dad!” Julie called. “It’s not an intruder or anything, just let me-”

“Honest, Ray, it’s not-” Flynn started at the same time, cutting short as Julie did when Ray swung the garage door open to reveal Luke, sprawled out on the floor, tail on full display, and Reggie peering sheepishly over Alex’s shoulder, empty glass in hand. 

Although they’d told her and Flynn - briefly, and with very little information - that their homelives hadn’t been great, Julie hadn’t considered how badly they’d react to a parent wielding a golf club.

Alex immediately blanched, expression losing all semblance of emotion, while Bobby’s mouth shut almost audibly, throat visibly working even as he shifted so that he was stood shoulder to shoulder with Alex - like they were guarding Reggie. Luke wasn’t quite as obvious, but instead of his usual smile he just looked vaguely apologetic, eyes blank. It reminded her of the way he looked when Alex or Reggie rambled about something he couldn’t stay tuned into, expression too natural to look fake, but eyes glazed like he couldn’t hear a word. 

Ray leaned heavily against the doorframe, and in the faintest voice Julie had ever heard him speak with said, “Julie, tell me that I’m hallucinating and there isn’t a dolphin man in your tio’s garage.”

Julie winced. “You’re hallucinating and there isn’t a dolphin man in my tio’s garage?”

“Nope, not working, there’s a dolphin man in the garage.” After a moment his eyes narrowed and he turned to Julie and Flynn. “You two girls ran out here awfully fast, I don't suppose you know why there’s a dolphin man in my garage?”

Julie cleared her throat awkwardly. “I found them on the beach?”

“You found a dolphin man and three teenage boys on the beach?”

Flynn scuffed her shoe against the concrete. “Try a dolphin-teenage boy, an eel-teenage boy, a pink-floaty-fish-teenage boy and a beluga-teenage boy?” She corrected, smiling nervously.

Alex coughed into his fist. “Sir, we were just staying here until we could figure out a way back to Florida, we’ve booked a flight, though, so if you’re uncomfortable, we can leave.”

Ray frowned. “Figure out a way back? Are your parents looking for you? Is there anyone I can ring?”

Reggie shuffled so his face was visible between Bobby and Alex, but he didn’t push for them to move aside. “Luke’s folks might be?” he offered.

“I called my dad,” Luke disagreed. “They knew I had no plan on coming back from Miami, not for a long time.” 

Alex gestured vaguely to him. “No one’s looking for us, then. If you need us to go, then a taxi would be useful, none of us speak spanish, but we are invading your space so if you don’t want to, don’t worry about it. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as Luke has dried off.”

Ray waved his hand in the air. “Wait. Someone just explain everything that has happened,  _ chronologically, _ go.”

Luke sighed. “We had a gig in Florida, decided it was a good a chance as any to run away, got in this boat we hired to have our first night of freedom under the stars, got… anyways, there was this storm, and we got washed out to this island and then we got in this pool to check we weren’t trapped in this cave, and then the water got fu- weird, and then we passed out for a while, and then we tried to swim out but we were still. Um. Yeah, and then we woke up on the shore with tails and stuff, and then Julie screamed - which, by the way, Jules, you gotta be able to sing something fierce with pipes like that - anyways, and then her and Flynn got us suncream because we were really pale,” He paused to gesture to his top half, which was, as stated, much paler than his human skin tone, “and then we got dry and turned back into people, and realised we have no way to get back to Florida asides that Bobby knows his sister’s debit card numbers, and we have our phones, so Julie said we could stay in your shed, and we’ve been super quiet, but then I teased Reg about something I shouldn’t have, and he threw water on me. And… Oh! Now we have a flight booked for two days time, but Flynn said that might coincide with your flight?”

Ray sighed and massaged his temple. “Does anybody want a cup of coffee? This is going to be a long conversation.”

__

Ray Molina was a remarkable man for many reasons, as Luke would find out later. What made him particularly remarkable in this instance though, was that, upon finding a 3 meter long white beaked dolphin-tailed stranger in the shed his daughter and her best friend were staying in, he neither screamed nor called a mental institution. He simply sighed deeply while he watched the others help towel Luke dry, and discreetly put the golf club he’d come in with away, after seeing Reggie eye it suspiciously.

In all honesty, Julie and Flynn’s reactions had been remarkably calm and forthcoming, if somewhat questionable, because how smart was it really to take in four teenage boys you found on the beach? Luke strongly suspected the immediate “I’m gay.” from Alex to Julie’s “How do I know you’re not some really creepy guys using this as a scheme?” and Flynn’s “Dope, me too.” had been of help. 

Ray Molina made them all come into the main house, sat them down around the kitchen table, and fell down heavily in a chair while Julie made them all coffee, probably as an apology to her dad.

“So,” he said, looking between all of them. “You all ran away from home, got magically turned into mermen and now you need to get back to Florida?”

“That’s about it, yeah,” Reggie said, still shifting nervously, avoiding Mr. Molina’s eyes. Luke was pretty sure he was holding hands with Bobby under the table.

“We actually had a gig in Miami,” Luke said, because he wasn’t entirely sure Mr. Molina had actually understood anything he’d said back in the shed. “We’re in a band- Sunset Curve. This was kinda supposed to be our big breakthrough, but-”

“Luke, I don’t think that’s important right now,” Alex interrupted with a sigh. 

“And you all just decided to run away?” Mr. Molina asked, glancing at Julie who returned with a pot of coffee and multiple cups. 

“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to do so for a while,” Luke mumbled, twisting a ring around his finger.   
Mr. Molina regarded them all for a long moment, taking in the way Alex thanked Julie profusely, then stared into his cup, his hands clenching around it, and Bobby who was definitely going to take some time to speak again, Reggie who kept stealing glances at him but looked obviously nervous, and Luke himself, who didn’t really know what to do with himself. Julie put a hand on her father’s back, and Flynn examined her fingernails very closely. Mr Molina sighed again.

“Okay, I feel like we started on the wrong foot. I’m Ray,” he said, offering them all a weary smile.

“I’m Luke. Patterson. Luke Patterson, sir,” Luke answered.   
Julie snorted, but hid the smile behind her hand and Flynn exhaled an obviously relieved sigh. “No need for the sir, Luke. You’re not from the US, are you?”

“No sir- I mean Ray. My mom’s French and my dad’s Canadian, so I grew up in Quebec, but we moved to the US when I was 11. None of us are really American,” he offered. Ray raised his brows.

“Okay, uh. I’m Alexander Mercer, but just Alex is fine. I’m uh- I’m from Germany originally,” Alex said quietly.

“Nice to meet you Alex,” Ray said. Luke noticed the softer, warmer voice he used for Alex. Julie smiled at her father softly.

“I’m Reggie, from Norway. And this is Boberto Wilson, but you can call him Bobby. He’s a proper Englishman,” Reggie said, slipping into an english accent that made Bobby roll his eyes fondly.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Ray said, nodding. An awkward silence settled between them. Alex kept staring into his coffee, leg bouncing, and Luke couldn’t help but join in. Flynn cleared her throat after a good minute or so. “So you’re not mad at us?”

“Honestly, I don’t think this entire thing has sunken in yet,” Ray confessed, taking a sip of his coffee. “I’m definitely not thrilled my daughter and her best friend took four weird teenage boys in without asking me, and I still can’t really believe you’re all mer… men? This entire situation is somewhat  _ fishy _ , but I think we have bigger things to worry about.”   
Ray grinned to himself at his joke, while the girls rolled their eyes and Julie groaned in exasperation. Reggie let out a quick laugh, and Luke watched as something melted in Ray’s eyes. He started to like this guy.

Ray remained remarkable in this situation. They sat and talked for a good hour, which was still awkward, but definitely loosened by his joke, about the band and their gig, what they planned to do after getting back to Miami. He’d shaken his head smiling, when Alex had expressed his unease about the flight, because none of them had their passports with them.   
“Do you have your ID’s?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” Luke said, which was a whole thing in and of itself. When they’d turned back into full humans after being found on the beach by Julie, all of them had found the wallets still Alex’s godawful fanny pack, and their phones, still working. It was mad, and Luke doubted he’d ever fully understand how this whole thing worked.

“If you’re legal US citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents you can travel between territories and the mainland mostly without issue. And since you’re all white or white passing I don’t think we’ll have any. Have none of you considered googling that?” Ray said, then looked disappointed in them immediately when they shook their heads. 

“So, I’m not taking you all out for dinner in a restaurant, but I will go shopping later and we will all have a meal together this evening, so please write down what you need and tell me about any allergies or diets I need to be aware of,” Ray said a good half hour later, handing them a sheet of paper and some pens.

“Mini pretzels,” Luke said immediately. He’d been craving them for days, because it had been exceptionally hard to concentrate the past few days and this place made his fingers ache to write and try some new chords. Ray’s eyebrows shot up again, and he turned slightly to look at the girls, who gave him twin smiles. 

When Ray left to do the shopping and, “clear his head”, Reggie turned to Julie immediately. “Your dad is  _ awesome _ .”

“He is,” she agreed, grinning. 

“Is it really okay if he buys all this stuff? We can pay him back later, probably,” Alex said, on his second cup of coffee. 

“Shush, Alex. He’s practically adopted all of you by now,” Flynn said. Julie elbowed her in the side. “What? It’s true? The second Reggie laughed at that god awful joke it was over for good old Ray.”

Ray Molina was an exceptional man, Luke noted, because he took care in being kind to all of them, despite all that had happened.   
Later, after Luke and his boys had had the time to calm down a bit, and him and Reggie and Bobby had gone for another long swim while Alex sulked on the beach, they sat over their first hot dinner in days. All of them had loosened up a bit, even though Reggie was still basically glued to Bobby’s side, who had yet to say anything again, and Alex couldn’t keep from fidgeting, and Luke kept himself on guard in case he needed to step in.   
But they loosened up again, because just like his daughter Ray Molina oozed kindness. Him and Julie talked about her little brother, Carlos, a lot, and showed them pictures, and Tía Victoria. Luke noted the absence of talk about Julie's mother, but growing up the way he did and with the fucked up family dynamics all his friends had, he didn't dare mention it.

“You know,” Ray started when they had finished eating. “If you really need a place to stay, we've got a studio and a spare room at home, isn’t that right, Julie?”   
Julie gaped at her father, who sent them all a smile so kind it made Luke’s heart ache, because it reminded him of his mom on the good days.

“Yeah, we do. I’m sure Carlos wouldn’t mind,” she said after a moment, a grin spreading over her face.

Luke couldn’t stop himself from staring at it, because, and he’d noticed that one pretty early on in meeting her, Julie was beautiful.

“I- uhm. Thank you, but we really don’t want to bother you more than we already have,” Alex said after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. The others nodded.

Ray’s gaze softened even more. “At least until we figure something out, boys. I couldn’t leave you to your fates with a good conscience.”

And so they ended up piled into a taxi van two days later, driving to the Molina residence. 

The last day in Puerto Rico had been spent with them fucking about, really. Ray was extremely interested in their merforms, as Reggie had taken to calling them, and Luke, Bobby and Reggie had happily demonstrated.

Alex hadn’t. “Please don’t make me go back into the water, I’d literally rather fucking die,” he’d said, standing next to Ray on the beach, watching the others in the shallow water. And Ray hadn’t forced him, which Luke liked. 

The Molina house in Miami was… fucking big, to put it into words.   
It was basically directly on the beach, had two stories, a garden, a studio with a grand piano in it, and a huge spare room that Ray told them they could use. 

“We’ll probably have enough room to put two beds in here, or bunks if you don’t want to cuddle-” the man said, standing in front of the single king size bed.

“Thank you, but I don’t think that’ll be really necessary,” Alex cut in. Ray shot him a curious look.

“We’ve all been sleeping in the same room and mostly the same bed for like, half a year,” Reggie added. “Bobby’s house is huge and since his mom isn’t home a lot we didn’t have to go into different rooms.”   
Bobby, who was warming up to Ray, but had still yet to speak, nudged Reggie softly.

“Oh yeah, Bobman says even if his mum had been home it wouldn’t have made a difference, so,” Luke immediately translated what their best friend wass signing. Ray stared at them all for a long moment, something suspiciously close pity creeping into his eyes.

“If you need anything, just tell me, okay? We need to get to that hotel to get all of your stuff and I think we can fit the instruments in the garage, but also I want all of you to go to school here, and we need some more clothes for you-” Ray started, listing off apparent necessities and things they have to do, but Luke tuned it out.  
He took in the warm yellow colour of the walls, and the big closet on one wall. The pillows and little bits of decoration everywhere. It was all done so lovingly and with attention to detail, and, with all the love and admiration he’d grown to have for Ray in the last three days, the man didn’t seem the type.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, the face of his mom lighting up the screen.   
“I’m sorry, I gotta take this,” he said, interrupting Ray. The others immediately shot him worried looks, Alex stepped a tiny bit into his direction, question in his eyes.

“Tout es d’accord, I promise,” Luke said, then turned on his heel and fled the room. He passed what he supposed was Julie’s room, because he saw her disappear into that during the tour Ray gave them, and into the kitchen. He answered the phone  “Bonjour, maman."

“Lucas-” she started, and then immediately got into fussing at him in her sophisticated french. About where he was, why he wasn’t coming home.

He couldn’t stay tuned into what she said, his mind wandering, and his fists clenching, so he turned the speaker on and looked around. He decided to see if there was anything in the fridge that might help, and, to his delight, found a can of coke. Carbonated drinks were always good, especially freshly opened ones that almost hurt to swallow. He found the cupboard with the glasses soon enough, while his mom continued to go off at him.   
Careful to not spill any of it, he poured the coke into the glass.

“Lucas! Luke!” his mother suddenly shouted at him. Oh shit. He’d kind of forgotten about that.

“What?!” he answered, loud and annoyed. He didn’t want to be having this conversation right now, or ever, really. He had enough on his mind, what with being a merman for less than a week, and trying not to worry about how their disappearance would impact Sunset Curve, and this house, and how nice and kind Ray wass. 

“ Tu ne me parles pas comme ça,” his mom snapped..

“Why not? You’ve been yelling at me for the past five minutes?”

“En francais!”

“So you want me to speak English because we just had to move to the US, but when I do it’s also wrong?” he had to stifle himself from yelling. She sighed, loudly and accusingly on the other end of the phone line.

“You know that’s not what this is about,” she said.

“Isn’t it, in a way? That whatever I do is always wrong in your opinion?” he snapped back, pushing the glass away from himself and leaning on the kitchen counter heavily, flexing his hands.

“You running away for some fantastical dream of music isn’t the same as not speaking English, don’t turn this around on me!” she had started yelling.

“It’s not a fucking fantastical dream, mom! We have a real chance at making it!” he answered, his voice rising in volume, even though he tried to keep it down, for Ray’s sake. 

“Oh, come on,” his mother gave a humourless laugh that he knew all too well. She was mocking him. His blood started boiling. It was always, always, the same with her. She never took him seriously. “You’re 17 years old, Luke. Do you really think you can make a living out of your band, without as much as a highschool diploma?”

“Yes, I think so, because we’re good, mom! We have gigs!” he curled his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms.

“You’re not going to be good forever, Luke!” she shouted. “I wish I’d never bought you that guitar, you know that?” she added, her voice quiet and filled with regret. That stung. And it made him furious.  “Well, you fucking shouldn’t have then. But I have friends, and I love music, why can’t you see that?” he didn’t care anymore, yelling back. Tears pricked at his eyes, because he’d heard that before, but it still always stung.

“I’m not saying you can’t like music, I’m saying you’re being irresponsible! That things aren’t going to work out. I’m just trying to protect you!” she was similarly mad, he could tell, from how her voice was pitching upwards, and her accent came through. 

“Just trying to protect me? From what? I-” he stopped, before he could get into his rant. The coke was boiling, bubbling in it’s glass, steam rising from it, foam spilling over the rim. 

“I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later,” he said, and hung up before his mother could do so much as protest. 

What the fuck. What the fuck was this. Luke took a deep breath, trying to calm down from his anger, knowing Reggie didn’t like being around him when he was. He stretched out his hands. The coke stopped boiling.  “Maudite marde,” he whispered. Clenched his fist again, concentrating on the liquid. It boiled up again. He let go. It stopped. 

He hollered for the others. “Guys? You need to come here right now!”   
Maybe he should have taken a breath and calmed down before yelling the boys came barreling down the staircase at top speeds, looking worried.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked immediately, sliding to a stop in his socks on the kitchen tiles. Luke grinned, phone call with his mom shoved into the back of his mind. Ray and Julie also came down the stairs, somewhat worried looking but obviously trying to give them space. 

“I’m fine, I discovered something,” Luke said excitedly. Reggie and Alex let out a breath, the latter already looking annoyed. Bobby sighed as well, leaning into Alex’s side, hands flying.  “Okay yeah, I see how I could have phrased that better, but look,” Luke conceded, then grinned again, turning to the glass. He concentrated on the liquid inside, and held out a hand.

“What the hell are you doing? You’re not some kind of magic princess,” Alex snapped, and yelped when the coke started boiling. Luke let it go, then turned around to his friends and grinned. They stared at him slack jawed. 

“Yo, that was rad, how did you do that?” Reggie asked, stepping a bit closer. Bobby softly gripped his wrist, holding him back from touching the glass that was presumably still hot. 

“I- I don’t know? I mean- I uh- I got mad at mom and then this started boiling and apparently I can control it?” Luke made it boil again, just because he could. “Now I just gotta focus on it a bit, and then it works.”

“What the fuck, dude,” Alex said. 

“Do you think all of us can do that?” Reggie asked, a slimmer of uncertainty in his voice and an anxious look crossing his face. “Do you think we can heat up bigger bodies of water too, like, accidentally?”

Luke’s excitement quelled a bit, but Bobby was faster. “You’ll be fine, Reg, we don’ even know if we all ‘ave these powers,” he mumbled, whispered really, throwing a nervous glance at Ray. Alex leaned into Bobby’s side immediately and Reggie took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Julie gave him an encouraging smile, her father not even focused on them.

“Luke, that’s all very cool, but please stop boiling the coke, I don’t want to scratch caramelized sugar out of that glass,” he said, watching it warily.   
Luke had completely forgotten that he was, in fact, still boiling, and quickly withdrew his hands.  “Sorry,” He scratched the back of his head, and threw an embarrassed glance at Alex who just looked uncomfortable with this whole thing.

Ray stepped closer, Julie close on his heels. “So you can just, make stuff boil?” Julie asked, leaning on the kitchen island and extending a hand.

“Julie, I wouldn’t-” Alex started, but it was already too late. Julie hissed and withdrew her thumb and pointer finger. “Fuck!” 

“Is it bad?” Reggie asked, as Julie stuck her fingers in her mouth. She shook her head.    
Ray looked at his daughter with slight disbelief on his face, then moved to grab another glass and filled it with tap water, putting it down in front of Julie “Fingers in there, mija.”  
Julie complied.

“We’ll leave that glass alone until we can touch it, alright? Thank God that Carlos isn’t here yet,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

“Maybe I can touch it, though, because I can heat it up and - fuck!” Luke wasn’t even finished with his hypothesis, before he reached for it. He wasn’t suddenly heat resistant, that much was clear the second he touched the glass.

Unlike Julie, who’d just pulled her finger back, he jumped, and somehow managed to smack the glass to the side, the still almost boiling hot coke spilling onto the counter and moving rapidly towards the others. Reggie jumped back, pulling Bobby with him, who pushed himself in front of the other almost immediately. Alex swore and held out his hands like he was going to catch and stop the coke from hitting him and turning him into a pink frilly merman in the kitchen of a house they’d been in for an hour at most.

And he did. It was like the liquid had hit a wall, because it started gathering just at the side of the counter, where Alex held his hands up.   
“What the hell, Luke,” was the first thing he snapped. “What the hell.” he added. 

“What’s going on?” Reggie asked, peeking over Bobby’s shoulder.

“I would also like to know that,” Alex added, voice already going up in pitch. Luke could see he was panicking, and he would have moved towards his best friend, if this whole thing hadn’t been his fold, and his hand didn’t really fucking hurt.

“Maybe you can control water?” Julie suggested, leaning forward again, her two fingers still in her glass to cool off.    
“I don’t fucking know how though?” Alex was visibly struggling to keep calm. 

“Just try thinking of what you want to do, and then move your hands accordingly,” Luke suggested, briefly wondering whether turning into a merman was worth it for the relief of sticking his stinging hand into cold water.    
Alex shot him a dirty look, but focused on the liquid that was still somehow contained on the countertop. His fingers twitched and he drew his eyebrows together in concentration, but if slowly formed into a ball, it’s surface rippling in the air. 

“That’s so cool,” Reggie whispered, still peeking over Bobby’s shoulder, his chin resting there.

“Can you try to put it into the sink?” Ray asked softly, stepping forward.   
Alex didn’t look up from the ball of still hot, somewhat steaming coke that was hovering in the air, because of him. Luke could practically see him overthink. But Alex moved his hands, turning towards where Ray asked, and the ball followed. 

“‘oly shi’,” Bobby whispered, as they all watched Alex maneuver it into the sink. Once he dropped his hands it sloshed in the sink, then audibly disappeared down the drain. 

“Dem Himmel sei Dank. That was the most stressful experience of my life,” Alex said, letting out a breath.    
Luke finally dared move forward, and slapped him on the back with the hand that didn’t hurt. “You did great!” 

“No thanks to you.”

“Oh, come on, Lexibald, if I hadn’t actually spilled the glass we wouldn’t know you could do that,” Luke slung his arm around Alex's shoulders who groaned but didn’t shake him off.

“It was still a risk,” Ray cut in, sighing.    
“Luke, I think I have some ointment somewhere, that you can use for your hand, we can’t really have you put it into water. I’m going to look for it, and then I’ll have to do some grocery shopping,” he took a breath and straightened, fixing them all with a meaningful stare. “No more throwing liquids at each other for trying to figure out powers. Julie, I expect you to be the responsible one here.”

“Of course, papí,” she said, smiling sweetly at her father. He gave them another once over and disappeared into a bathroom, rummaging around for a minute which they all spent staring at each other. Luke bit down on his lip to refrain from saying something. Ray plopped down a small container in front of him. “I trust that one of you puts it on for him.”

Julie was the one to do it, with soft and careful hands, and rubbed the rest of the white ointment between her slightly burned fingertips. Luke spent the whole time pointedly not staring at her, which was hard, because she was, only objectively of course, a very pretty girl.

Ray left ten minutes later for groceries. The second they heard the door fall shut they all turned to each other.   
“So who are we throwing water at next?” Julie blurted, and Luke felt a grin spreading over his face. His hand didn’t even sting that much anymore, and he really, really wanted to experiment with his powers. 

“I actually want to test this out,” Alex said, softly, eyes fixed onto his hands as he wiggled his fingers. 

Julie pushed the glass of water on the counter in his direction, careful not to spill anything. “Have at it.”

Alex shot them all a glance, uncertainty in his eyes, before looking back down at the water. Bobby pulled Reggie away from Alex, moving towards the other side of the kitchen island, next to Julie and Luke.

“We don’ need a beluga in the kitchen, dear,” he said to Reggie when the boy made a noise of protest. Julie’s eyebrows shot up, and she glanced at Luke who offered her a small shrug. She’d get used to not knowing what the fuck was going on between Reggie and Bobby. 

“Okay, okay, I’ve got this,” Alex said, hyping himself up.

“You got this!” Luke agreed, and Julie flashed a thumbs up. Alex blew out a breath, the way he always did before launching into a new drum solo for the first time, or before he went off on a tangent about Shakespeare. He lifted both of his hands, then frowned, and glanced up. Luke nodded at him.

“Ye’ go’ this Lexi,” Bobby said.    
Alex nodded, cleared his throat, and Luke could literally see him focus. The water in the glass began rising in a column, higher and higher, twisting around, somewhat akin to a snake.

“Where the fuck is all of that water coming from?” Reggie asked, slightly in awe. Luke couldn’t agree more. There was no fucking way in hell there was enough water in the glass to spiral up to about a meter of height.

“I don’t know,” Alex said, looking up, losing focus. The column tipped toward them, Bobby swore, Luke jumped to the side, almost toppling into Julie. Reggie thrust his hands out as if to protect himself, and with a crackling sound, the column froze solid.

“What the fuck,” Julie said. 

“Reg-,” Alex began, tone already apologetic. 

“Fy faen, that is  _ awesome _ !” Reggie all but yelled. He turned to Bobby first, then to Luke, blue eyes alight with unbridled joy. “I can freeze stuff, you know how much easier that makes things?”

“Do it again!” Luke demanded. Julie jumped from her place next to him, grinning like a maniac, and pulled out a few more cups and glasses, filling them with water and placing them down on the countertop. “Do your little tricks, magic men.” she demanded.

Reggie nearly bounced with excitement, as he thrust his left hand out, and one of the glasses froze over immediately. “That is so cool,” he squealed, then snorted. “Literally. Get it? Because it’s ice?”

“Yeah, we get it Reg,” Alex interrupted, but there was a slight smile on his face as he watched Reggie grin with satisfaction.    
Luke’s fingers itched. He wanted to fuck around with this, whatever it was, before Alex found the time to freak out. “Alex, make it float again, I want to boil it in the air.”

“Absolutely not, we’re not going to get burns because of your dumb ideas. Do it in a cup or don’t do it at all,” Julie cut in. Luke complied, because when she used her bossy tone Julie was seriously scary.

They spent the better part of an hour fucking around. Alex got super skilled at making little bubbles float through the air, and into their mouths, and Reggie experimented with nuance in freezing, getting to the point where instead of freezing the water into a solid block, he could turn it into more of an icy slush. Luke realized he could evaporate water in a matter of seconds if he concentrated enough. Only Bobby struggled with, well, everything.

Alex flung water at him in the hopes of getting a similar reaction him and Reggie had had, but it didn’t work, and he managed to stop the droplets from hitting Bobby only moments before disaster. Maybe that was a reason, Luke thought, that it didn’t work, because Bobby was still aware if the fact that he’d most likely not turn into a merman.    
But it was obvious he was getting frustrated, his face scrunching up and shoulders tensing. 

“We should probably stop this before Ray comes home, don’t you think?” Luke suggested, even if he was having fun. Bobby had started to look more unhappy and pulled back a bit.

“No worries, Bobbert, you’re gonna find your power soon enough,” Reggie promised, having noticed the same thing. He leaned up and pressed a kiss to Bobby’s cheek before carefully taking one of the glasses and helping Julie clean them up. A slight blush crept up on Bobby’s face, and he caught Luke’s eyes.

“No’ a fuckin’ word,” he grumbled, and turned away.

Turned out it was good, if accidental, thinking on Luke’s side, because Ray came back through the front door not ten minutes later, laden with groceries and requesting help. They spent most of the afternoon settling into the house, Luke and Reggie immediately more comfortable than Alex who still ended up standing in rooms awkwardly, when not told explicitly what to do.    
Reggie showed Ray his ‘Elsa-powers’ and Bobby kept trying to no avail.

Luke began noticing stuff. He always did, at some point. Patterns in tiles or wallpaper, little cracks in walls, tiny writings in school toilets. Smaller details that his mind latched onto. In the Molina home it was the woman in the family photos on the walls. She looked enough like Julie and Carlos that he assumed she was their mother, but he didn’t see her here, and he didn’t hear Ray and Julie speak about her. Just Carlos and Tía Victoria, both of whom they were yet to meet. He didn’t dare ask yet.

Dinner was, once again, a joined affair, that Ray made them help with cooking. They were all careful not to get into contact with water, but Alex’s newfound abilities were of immense help, and Ray was delighted to have Luke boil the water for the spaghetti instead of having to use electricity.   
“At this rate I can open a restaurant with you as help,” he joked.

“Let me tail you something,” Reggie said, carefully stirring the tomato sauce, and grinning madly. “I think that’s a - Alex what do you call fish bones in German again?”

Alex sighed. “Gräte, why?” 

“I think that’s a Gräte idea.” Reggie and Ray began laughing together. Julie rolled her eyes at them.

“I ha’e him so much,” Bobby whispered next to Luke, but when he looked at the other, his face spoke a whole other story. Alex noticed it too, and grinned. “Sure you do, buddy.”   
Bobby opened his mouth to protest, but Alex winked at Luke, and flicked his wrist, sending a few droplets of water from the just washed kitchen knife Bobby’s way. 

They dropped mid flight, with a somewhat wet squelch.  “Aha!” Alex shouted, making Julie jump a bit. 

“Bloody ‘ell’s this?” Bobby asked, leaning forward. 

“What’s going on?” Reggie asked, turning to them, he also stepped closer to the… jelly? That was now laying on the kitchen counter. 

“Bob der Baumeister does have powers,” Alex said, getting a light shove from Bobby, who despised that nickname in every language.

“Yeah, ‘cause turnin’ wa’er in’o some jelly is so grea’,” Bobby said.

“I think it’s pretty cool.” Reggie gave Bobby an encouraging smile. Of course he did. Luke reached out and poked one of the jelly blobs. It jiggled under his touch.

“You just gotta experiment with it, I’m sure we can at least go viral with this water slime on like, Instagram or something,” he said.

“Later, boys. For now I need help with the pasta,” Ray interrupted. Luke didn’t miss the way he nodded at Bobby in a way that clearly said ‘i told you so’. Bobby looked away. 

Later, when they’d eaten, and changed into their own, clean clothes, the four of them crammed into the bed in the guest room. Luke nestled into Alex’s side, on the right side of the bed because he had a talent for falling out of them and didn’t want to take anyone down with him. Alex shoved a hand into his hair and began playing with it lazily.    
“This is crazy, I don’t think any of it has actually sunken in yet,” he mumbled. Luke hummed in agreement.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Reggie started, on the other side, furthest away from Luke, probably cuddling with Bobby in some weird, uncomfortable-looking position to accommodate his ribs. He sounded content, and as if he was going to say something Alex wasn’t going to like. 

“Abou’ wha’?” Bobby asked, voice raspy and even lower with sleep lacing through his words.

“Can we influence anything that has a high enough water content?”

“I mean, prob’ly. We could prob’ly influence blood, if we wan’ed to. It’s basic’ly 92% water,” Bobby mused, sounding a lot more interested all of a sudden. 

“Do I want to know where this is going?” Alex whispered to Luke, who snorted. 

“So what you’re saying is Alex could, like, make little balls of blood float around?”

“Dude, that’s disgusting!” Alex protested immediately. Luke laughed, then pushed himself up onto his arms to loom over Alex, who ran a hand over his face in exasperation, so he could look at Reggie and Bobby in the dim light filtering in through the window. “Probably,” he agreed.

“So, essentially, what you’re saying is, I could turn my blood into a slushie?”

“No!” Alex shot up, glaring, when Luke and Bobby started laughing. “Reg, please fucking don’t, you’ll die.”

“Y’know ‘ow ra’lesnake venom makes ye’ blood curdle in’o a jelly like texture?” Bobby asked, still giggling. Luke held his breath, making out the way Alex shook his head. 

“Tha’ means I’m basic’ly a ra’lesnake, motherfuckers.”

“Bobby- no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoyed, we update every Thursday, have a good day!!


	4. Oh, you’re traumatised? Want a Starbucks?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They now, momentarily at least, lived in Miami with Julie and her dad and Carlos, who had been somewhat surprised to see four teenage strangers in his home but immediately struck up a friendship with Reggie.  
> He’d sent Carrie a text that he was okay, but had ignored her and his dad’s calls because the thought of lying to them about this whole thing, and living with a man he met a few days ago wasn’t really something he looked forward to. Or even worse, actually telling them the truth. How was one to tell their family about suddenly turning into a fucking conga eel when touching water? Not at all, that’s what one did if one was Bobby Wilson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi kiddliwinks! Welcome to this week of the JATPH2OLU, where we have some fun angst and the introduction of a very special character  
> As usual, all mental illnesses, fibromyalgia problems and parental Issues™️ Are based on our own 💜  
> A specific trigger/ content warning for this chapter is discussions of alcoholism in a parent, so we'd advice skipping the bobby part of the chapter if needed!  
> Enjoy!

Somehow the one and a half weeks that had passed since they had flown to Miami for the gig that was supposed to change their lives felt like years. And, well, Bobby supposed in a way that that gig really had changed their lives, even without happening. For one, Sunset Curve performances at other venues had been canceled due to their sudden disappearance, which wasn’t great. They now, momentarily at least, lived in Miami with Julie and her dad and Carlos, who had been somewhat surprised to see four teenage strangers in his home but immediately struck up a friendship with Reggie.

He’d sent Carrie a text that he was okay, but had ignored her and his dad’s calls because the thought of lying to them about this whole thing, and living with a man he met a few days ago wasn’t really something he looked forward to. Or even worse, actually telling them the truth. How was one to tell their family about suddenly turning into a fucking conga eel when touching water? Not at all, that’s what one did if one was Bobby Wilson.

He also had to figure out how to legally go to school here in Miami, because both Ray and Julie insisted they all do so, and Ray wanted them to legally live with him, so Bobby needed to get his mother to at least scan and sign the documents. Luke was still in a heated argument with his parents, over the phone, somewhere far off in the house, yelling. 

Bobby sighed and leaned his head on Reggie’s shoulder, and squeezed the other boy’s hand.

“You gonna be okay Bobert?” Reggie asked quietly, shifting his head and pressing his cheek against Bobby’s hair. They watched Alex pace in the garden, as he had been doing for the past ten minutes. He was nervous, as was Reggie, but Alex couldn’t sit still when he was. 

“‘could ask you the same, darlin’.” Bobby pretended not to see Reggie’s cheek flush a bit. It didn’t mean anything. Reggie just blushed a lot.

“We’ll be fine. In and out of California, get my parents to sign the documents, get my plushies and some clothes, try not to fight Lexi’s parents, and back in the airplane we go. You won’t even notice we’re gone.”

Which was a blatant lie. Bobby always noticed it when Reggie was gone. He was hyper aware of his best friend’s presence, and things were alway a bit colder, a bit less bright without Reggie there to excitedly ramble about something.   
“I wouldn’t mind if you gave the Mercers a good punch for me, but Alex probably would,” Bobby said, watching as said boy made another turn, raking his hands through his hair. Reggie made an amused sound. “Probably, yeah.”

Truth was, Bobby didn’t actually want only for Alex and Reggie to fly back to LA to get some stuff, but the likelihood of his mother not even being at home in the limited time he had was high, and the most important things in his life were already in Miami. His guitar, his phone, his friends, obviously. Clothes weren’t really an issue, he had his wallet back, after all.

But out of all of them he hated flying probably almost as much as Alex, and they didn’t need to rile each other up, and his throat had just stopped tensing and going dry upon seeing Ray or Carlos, and flying would probably disrupt that. 

Plus someone needed to keep an eye on Luke, who simply couldn’t fly to LA because his parents would somehow find a way to keep him there. Both of them enjoyed swimming, a lot, and so did Reggie. They were testing things out, challenging their own limits, but Luke got reckless at times, and when it came down to it, out of the three of them who actually swam, it was always Bobby who had to make the sensible decisions. So him and Luke in Miami it was, and Alex and Reggie to and from LA. 

“Boys, it’s go time!” Ray’s voice drifted through the living room doors, and all three of them tensed. Alex’s eyes focused on Bobby and Reggie, and a look of panic shot over his face. 

“We got this, Alex! I promise,” Reggie said, and stood up, slowly, so Bobby could take his head off his shoulder. Their hands remained clasped. Reggie held out his other hand, making grabby motions, and Alex hurried over, taking it. 

“‘S gonna be fine,” Bobby nodded. They trudged into the house, finding Luke already in the foyer, as well as Ray and Julie.    
“Everyone ready to go?” Ray smiled at them, the backpack the guys were sharing for their first flight on his shoulder. They’d decided to just get a suitcase from Alex’s house and throw all the shit they needed in there for the return, because it wasn’t going to be that much.

They nodded, and the four of them, plus Ray, piled into his car. Julie had wanted to come along to the airport, but ultimately decided not to stretch the car’s limit further. She hugged Alex, and went on her tiptoes to give a one armed one to Reggie, then waved him and Luke goodbye.

The drive to the airport was tense, and Alex, who’d volunteered to sit in the passenger's seat kept drumming the beats of the songs on the radio on his thighs and bouncing his legs. Luke sat in the middle seat of the back row, being the smallest, and held both Bobby’s and Reggie’s hands. 

“They’ll be fine.” Luke said, an hour and a half later, when they’d successfully sent their boys off, and were left standing in the crowded entrance hall of the airport. Bobby nodded. He didn’t like it when the four of them weren’t together. Call it codepency or whatever, but he didn’t like it. Luke didn’t either, he knew that, and the furrow in his brows and tension in his shoulders meant that he was just as eager to get them back, but that wouldn’t for almost a full day, and they had stuff to do in the meantime.

Ray had given them a bit of space to say their goodbyes, and was waiting for them by the car. He didn’t say much, just gave them a kind smile and clapped Luke on the shoulder, and the drive back was quiet.

Bobby knew that there hadn’t really been another way to go about this, and that in this situation the best combination was Alex and Reggie, but he couldn’t help feeling somewhat left out. Alex and Reggie, Reggie and Alex, whichever way around, had always been a bit closer. They’d found each other first after all, and had known each other the longest, and while the four of them knew each other inside and out, it was special between them.

They didn't even have to be in the same room or look at each other to know something wasn’t right, and even after all these years it was still Reggie who was quickest at calming Alex down from a panic attack, and it was Alex who Reggie turned to most when he flared up again.

That was fine, Bobby told himself. It was. They were closest, and that was fine. But he often felt as if Luke was also closer to them than he was, too. That he’d come last and made a perfect trio into an imperfect quartet, and he was the most easily expendable one, the most replaceable one in Sunset Curve. Finding a new rhythm guitarist wasn’t going to be as hard as finding a new lead guitarist, lyricist and singer, or a new drummer like Alex, or a new bassist like Reggie. Which was fine. He got it. It still sucked a lot sometimes, though. 

Having to call his mother also sucked. Majorly. Bobby wasn’t one for pacing, usually, but he was already making rounds in the kitchen. It was easy. Simple. Call her, tell her to check her emails, print them out and sign them. Alex had promised they’d get the papers and one of his favourite hoodies. Luke had retreated into the garage that had been repurposed into a studio, a giant piano already in it. They hadn’t dared to ask yet, just set up their instruments after picking them up from the hotel. Emily had called again, and the rapid-fire angry french he’d spit into his phone indicated nothing good, so he was probably writing.   
“Hey, Bobby, are you okay to do this? I can also make the call if you want,” Ray appeared in the doorway, brows drawn together with concern as he watched Bobby pace.    
Bobby stopped dead in his tracks. “I- no, thank you. I have to do this, it's not going to work otherwise.”

Ray nodded, then bit his lip, looking unsure for a moment. “Is it okay if I stay here to watch, or do you want to do this alone?” he asked. Bobby stared at him for a second, then just nodded slowly. “You can stay.”

It was surprising, just how nice Ray Molina was. And with him being there Bobby couldn’t avoid it anymore. He picked up his phone and dialed the number.

She didn’t pick up on the first try. Nor the second. Of course she didn’t. 

Bobby honestly couldn’t remember when exactly things changed with her. She’d never been particularly affectionate, not even when he’d been a child, but back then he’d always had Carrie and his dad, and the nanny, and so he hadn’t felt that alone. He’d noticed his mother always had a particular, unpleasant smell when he was nine years old, and realized what exactly that meant two years later. She’d left him alone a lot, and the neighbours on his street had taken care of him many times. In the small village he grew up in basically everyone knew everybody, and so Bobby noticed the pitying stares from neighbours and people two streets over as well as the people that came home with his mum, smelling the same or worse, always carrying bottles or little bags. And she’d always been distant. 

Things had gotten worse when they’d moved to LA. She stayed out and away for longer times, sometimes she didn’t come home at all. Didn’t answer her phone, or just didn’t talk, even if she was home. She didn’t care about much more than still getting the money his dad paid and staying drunk. 

It had been almost a year since he’d actually tried to ring her, and she hadn’t picked up back then. She didn’t pick up the third time. This was embarrassing. This was entirely expected and it still fucking hurt, because she hadn’t heard from him in almost two weeks, how did she care so fucking little?

Bobby desperately avoided Ray’s eyes. Dialed again. He closed his eyes and prayed to whoever was listening, that she’d pick up.

“Yeah?” her voice was rough and already slurred. For fuck’s sake, it wasn’t even noon yet in LA. Bobby blew out a long breath. “Mum?”   
“Rober’? Wha’ d’ya want?” she didn’t even sound annoyed. There was no emotion in her voice. Bobby gripped his phone tighter and turned away from Ray, because he didn’t want to see whatever expression the other man wore. He didn’t want pity. He just wanted a normal fucking mother.   
“Can you check your email? I- uh. I sent you some documents I need you to sign. I probably won’t be coming home for some time,” he explained. There was a long silence on the other end of the line.   
“Can you please jus’ prin’ ‘em ou’ and sign?” he pressed.   
She blew out a long breath. “Yeah, sure, where’d’you say they were again?” 

“Your mails, mum. I sen’ it to you a few minutes ago,” he said. “Ah, righ’.” he heard shuffling on the other side, then her walking, what sounded like a bottle clinking against the rim of a glass.

“I don’t have time to hand them in somewhere, just so you know,” she mumbled, and he heard the printer going in the background.

“That’s fine, Alex and Reggie are coming to pick them up.”

All he wanted to do, really, all he wanted to do was fill the silence and to get this over with.   
“Who?”

He didn’t even know why he was surprised. It wasn’t like she’d been paying attention to his life much in the past few years. But they had been staying over a lot. He talked about them a lot on the rare occasions she was mostly sober or home long enough they could have tea together. “My- my friends mum. Some of my friends will come by and get ‘em,” Bobby couldn’t quite keep his voice from shaking. Whether it was because some part of him actually felt like crying, or anger because he’d been friends with them for  _ years _ , and why, why couldn’t he just have a normal fucking mother?   
“Alrigh’,” she sounded nonplussed. He clenched his jaw, and yes, he knew it was bad, but he ground his teeth to keep from screaming at her. He listened as the printer stopped and she shuffled around and kept grinding his teeth and his fingers started to cramp from how tightly he was holding his phone. 

“I’m done. I’ll just put them near the front door, yeah?”

“Yes, thank you,” he ground out.    
“Rober’, what happens to me if you’re not living with me?” she asked suddenly. His stomach knotted. Of course. Of fucking course that was what she worried about. The breath he blew out was an unsteady one, and he had to bite his lip to stop himself from screaming. “I’ll talk a’ dad so you still ge’ 50% of child suppor’. That should be enough, righ’?”

She was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. Please make sure to actually do it, though. I need i’,”

It wasn’t a sob, not a real one anyway, but a dry breath tore it’s way from his throat. His fingers hurt. His jaw hurt. “I will. Please make sure to pick up your phone when I call nex’.”   
“What’s tha’ supposed to mean, Robert? I did pick up the phone,” she genuinely sounded like she didn’t understand what he was on about.    
“It’s- forge’ i’. Bye,” he didn’t even wait for her to say goodbye, just hung up. 

Ray still stood in the doorway. Bobby wasn’t too bad at reading other people, but the expression on the man’s face was unreadable right now. He tried to school his own features into a mask of calm, because this man was too kind to be subjected to the boiling rage inside of him.    
“She’s signed ‘em. I’ll talk to my dad, but-” he cut off. He couldn’t do it right now. He wanted Reggie, right now. To just hold his hands, or maybe kiss him, and listen to him go on about some Chemistry thing he didn’t entirely understand.   
“Not now, that’s okay,” Ray said. “Take your time.”   
Bobby nodded awkwardly. He wanted to get out of here. “I’m going to go for a swim,” he announced and brushed past Ray, basically running out of the house, fumbling with the latch of the gate leading to the beach and sprinting over the hot sand. He threw himself into the waves and they received him with the same anger he gave.

This sucked. All of this fucking sucked. He wanted to have a normal mother, who cared, and knew who his friends were, and didn’t pick up because she was at work, not because she was busy drowning herself in spirits. He wanted to have a relationship with his father, and not feel like he’d always be second to his sister, even if he loved her.

He wanted to be equal with his friends, even if that was basically impossible, because they all had a much closer and tighter bond with each other than him, and they were more uniquely talented than him.

The water bubbled around him, and he felt his tail grow, standing still in the shallow waters for a moment before he shot away. The current helped, pulling him out into the sea, but even without it would have been easy. He was small, incredibly so, but the tail of the conga eel he got was fast and strong as hell. 

He swam, and it felt natural, which was still weird, because it wasn’t, none of this was. He still was yet to learn how to deal with the fact that Reggie was more than double his own size in their mer-forms. It was insane. Alex had already made fun of him repeatedly, but how the fuck was Bobby supposed not to stare and marvel at Reggie’s size, and the squish he gained, and the way he elegantly moved his ginormous body through the water. It wasn’t fair. And Alex had no leg to stand on, because as far as they had found out, he didn’t even resemble any real fish, he was just there to sit still and look pretty. 

Bobby swam for what felt like hours, just floating at some point, staring into the sky. He returned to land with the night approaching, and found Luke sitting on the beach, all on his own.

“Hey, buddy,” he greeted when he saw Bobby appear in the surf. “Need a hand?” Luke stood up, and watched as Bobby dragged himself into the shallower waters.

“You’re gonna get wet.” 

“I mean with drying, idiot,” Luke grinned and jumped out of the way when Bobby tried to flick some water at him. “We don’t have time to wait for you to dry out all on your own.”

Bobby rolled his eyes but gave Luke a nod to go ahead. He needed to text Alex and Reggie about getting the documents, and he hoped they were okay. And he needed to call his dad, although it was the middle of the fucking night in England, so maybe that could wait. Getting dried by Luke wasn’t the most pleasant experience, because he could feel the moisture evaporating directly over his skin. It was honestly a miracle they didn’t get cooked.

But it was also considerably faster than drying with towels or the sun. And fucking unfair, because for some reason Bobby had ended up with useless powers while the other three could do things that were actually useful. When the fuck would jellyfiying water ever come in handy? Never. That was when. So it was fitting he was the one to get these powers.

When he was a human again, with legs and his clothes on, Luke pulled him up, and into a hug.   
“We’re not going to talk about it if you don’t want to, okay?” he mumbled and Bobby pulled him in tighter. They didn’t. Tea was tense, until Carlos started a war with Luke over the correct plural of ‘moose’, and the night was tense and spent with a lot of texting across the entire country.

When he stood at the airport at 11:25 the next morning, rocking on his heels and waiting for Reggie and Alex to come out of baggage claim, Ray put a hand on his shoulder, and smiled.

“Do you want to call your father today? You don’t have to, and I can also do it if you want me to, if that’s more comfortable that way?”

Bobby took a moment to respond. Ray was way too nice for his own good, he decided. “Thank you, but it’s fine. I’ll prob’ly call him la’er,” 

Ray nodded and looked about to say something else, when a cry of “Bobby! Luke!” rang in the air.

Reggie came running towards them, grinning wildly, but looking exhausted, and Alex followed close behind, also looking exhausted, and tense as hell, dragging the suitcase behind him. 

Reggie practically threw himself at Bobby, who struggled to catch him without touching Reggie’s ribcage. Reggie was a whirlwind, always had been, turning Bobby’s world upside down, and something to be cautious of - not for Bobby’s own sake, but for Reggie’s.

Like right now, because he still looked pained despite Bobby’s best efforts. 

“Be fuckin’ careful, love, you’ll hur’ yourself!” Bobby chastised, unable to hold back the smile as Reggie hugged him and he pulled him in, with careful, practiced movements, arms over Reggie’s shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the top of Reggies head.

“I missed you,” Reggie whispered in his ear before pulling back. Alex caught Bobby’s eyes over Reggie’s shoulders.   
“Glad to see you too, Arschgeige,” he said, his voice was strained to sound calm and he was still too tense, almost like a drawn bow, ready to release and shoot or break from it at any second. Bobby snorted, and pulled Alex in for a hug. “Fuck off.”

——

Alex wasn’t really sure what he hated more at the moment; the awful, all consuming panic that he had always found went hand-in-hand with airports, the burning, nauseating feel of acid rising in his throat as the full effects of what he’d just done, or the ever-present voice at the back of his mind reminding him he was a fucking  _ merman _ . 

He decided to focus the airport concerns first. 

They’d managed to get back to LA perfectly fine, sure, and going through TSA in LAX to get onto their return to Miami had also been fine, and yeah, okay, the flight had gone perfectly, but even though the file in his hand that kept making a rustling sound as his hands shook contained documents saying it was perfectly legal for him and the boys to be moving in with a family they’d known for less than a week, he still felt like a security agent, or a social services worker was going to run up to them at any minute and drag them back to LA. 

They made it out, and for a moment, getting caught back up to Bobby and Luke was enough of a relief that he could forget about the next two problems on his list for a moment. 

They all knew their friendship was a concerning shade of co-dependent, but Alex had always thought it was fairly understandable. Reggie had been his life raft in the tumultuous sea of a new city and a new country and a documentary on pride week being switched off - quickly, but not so quickly he didn’t know what it had been about - and the way American phonetics were different to the English phonetics he’d learned back home, which were different again to his own. Alex considered himself the main sheet, focusing their energy and determining how much they put towards something - effort required for maths so he could stay in the same class as Reggie’s. Effort not required for English, because until they remembered to stop using so many ‘u’s, they were going to be in extra help anyways.Then had come Luke, the first guy Alex had genuinely thought of as  _ cute _ , and he’d been a motor, of sorts, or maybe the wind in their sails. He gave them drive, and often direction, and he was a force of nature that both Alex and Reggie were helpless to. Finally had come Bobby, their rudder. He set their course with enviable ease, guiding them from success to success with the little details he picked up on and acted on without doubting himself. Luke called their direction and Bobby steered them through the stacks and sea-arches in their path. 

Alex had always hated the water, and boats, but he and his boys were ship-shape and sea-worthy, and there’d never been a reason for them to fall apart. He and Reggie had grown used to their drive and direction. Floating around subject to eddies and tides always made Alex feel cut loose. No wind meant their sails were useless, and no direction meant their speed didn’t matter anyway. 

Watching Reggie throw himself into Bobby’s arms with the reckless abandon he always had around the other boy settled something in his chest, and the rest slid into place when Bobby, and then Luke, tugged him in for hugs. The weight of their arms around him was pressing and suffocating, but it was the only thing keeping the pieces of him together. 

“How did it go?” Luke asked him quietly, once they’d all bundled into the back of Ray’s car. He looked rough, and Alex imagined his calls to Emily hadn’t been much more pleasant than his and Reggie’s visit home. 

Alex shrugged, letting Reggie busy himself with pressing into Bobby’s side instead of contributing. “Forms are signed. Mum cried. Dad looked… disappointed? Less surprised than expected. Reg’s dad was out, but his mum didn’t really care. What about on your end?”

Bobby cleared his throat, doing his best to sign along as he spoke, despite Reggie’s weight against him. “Mum doesn’ care. I ge’ fifty percen’ child suppor’, and we all know dad han’ got a fuckin’ clue what child suppor’ is supposed to look like, so i can cover food and clothes for us. ‘m gonna have to call ‘im or Care back eventually, though.”

“Mum…” Luke exhaled heavily, raking his hand through his hair. “She’s not happy, but. She’s coming around. I’m less of a hassle if she just visits once every couple of months to make sure i’m not wasting away.”

Ray cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence that followed. “Would any of you like anything from Starbucks?”

\----

His five am iced coffee the next morning - was it really the next morning if he’d been awake the whole time, or was it just The Worst Day Of His Life Cont.? - was not solving his issues like the internet always promised it would. 

Now that the whole airport thing was out of the way, there was nothing stopping him from staring down what had happened in LA.

He’d come out to his parents. 

It had made sense, when they’d planned it. It was the most surefire way to get them to sign the forms to emancipate him, or whatever Flynn had called it, and there wasn’t really much love lost between them.

There was enough, though. 

The only person to ever acknowledge outright how much he craved their approval was Bobby, and that was also teasingly, just part of the way they loved each other. He’d not really sat down to come to terms with it until now, sat on the harbour wall, only a fifteen minutes’ walk from the Molinas’, staring at the sunrise over the ocean like he wasn’t absolutely fucking terrified of it, and glaring at his coffee every time he took a sip and it didn’t erase the way his mum’s expression had crumpled as he’d slid the sheaf of papers across the table and quietly informed them that he was gay and going to live in Miami. It hadn’t been grief. He’d seen her grieve, wracked with heaving, choking sobs at his Opa’s funeral, and it tore her apart as externally as it did internally. This hadn’t been anything like that. This had been silent tears and her signing the papers with a quick flourish and shoving them back, letting go too early so that Alex had to reach forward for them, like she couldn’t bear the thought of touching them at the same time as he did. 

Reggie had squeezed his shoulder, and they’d left. Alex had taken his things and there had been no complaint. Neither of his parents had looked in his direction the entire time, but at the door, just as he’d almost passed the threshold to the rest of his life, his dad had grabbed his arm, so tight it hurt. 

“Don’t come back,” he’d said, in the godawful English he’d used exclusively since they’d moved here. Alex had always thought he sounded nicer in German. Maybe he just sounded more like dad. “Not unless you’re coming back with an apology for putting your poor mother through that. We won’t have a - one of you in the family, not if i can help it. You understand me? Stay gone.”

Alex ignored the way his next sip of his coffee tasted like tears. He wondered if the entire ocean tasted like tears. He wondered why he’d been unlucky enough to have been with his boys when they got turned into sea creatures, giving them an entire world he couldn’t follow them into. 

He wondered why he couldn’t get past something as stupid as a fucking fear of water when he’d spent the last five years twenty minutes from Santa Monica. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fishing boat start to head out, motor deafening in the dawn silence. Alex studied the ripples spreading out in the water behind it until the net caught his gaze. He wasn’t an expert by any means, but Luke always had passing fascinations that they did their best to indulge him in, and he’d spent three months last summer  _ obsessed _ with everything to do with the sea. It still surfaced sometimes - learning the boat trip distance to every island within boat-tripping distance of Miami when they planned their trip, guessing what animal each of their tails belonged to - but at the time he’d gotten really into conservation, and even joined their school’s eco-club. That hadn’t lasted too long, but Alex and the boys had attended all of their sessions, and they’d helped him prepare for his presentation on fishing. That wasn’t a legal net if Alex remembered correctly. And he did, because the pictures of those nets were scorched permanently into his retinas with the memory of the stupid drinking game they’d come up with to help Luke learn his lines. 

Alex considered running back to the house. He was fast, he could turn the fifteen minute walk into a five minute run, and the boys would be able to sort it - somehow. But, Bobby didn’t sleep enough as it was, and Reggie needed every second of rest he could get to ease the post-Peters’-household flare, and Luke… Luke was going through it already. Alex couldn’t stress him out. 

The reflection of the sky on the water made him feel physically sick. There could be anything under there and he’d never know it until his head was beneath the waves, and by then it would be way too late to save himself.

Luke’s chilling final line about drowning turtles echoed in his mind, and he remembered how hurt Luke had looked just at the idea that people wouldn’t care. It was stupid, but Alex knew he’d never be able to look his best friend in the face again if he didn’t do this. 

He took a deep breath, ignoring how his hands shook around his cup. He downed the rest of the coffee in one go and threw the cup in the closest bin, flexing his fingers nervously now that he didn’t have anything to hold. 

“Nun komm schon, Alter , du packst das,” he mumbled to himself, then stepped forward. 

\----

The water was colder than he expected, ripping the air straight out of his lungs to join the champagne bubbles that amassed around him as his legs fused and his clothes disappeared and weird frilly, pink  _ fins _ grew from his elbows. For a minute, all he could do was frantically reach out for a grip on the harbour wall to pull himself above the surface long enough to breathe. He tentatively focused on his - on  _ the _ tail, imagining himself bringing his legs up to a ninety degree angle. The tail moved easily, frills similar to those growing from his elbows present halfway down his-the tail, and to the caudal fin. Luke hadn’t been able to identity what kind of fish he was, just shrugged and said  _ gay?  _ jokingly, as if any of them were straight. 

A little more forcefully, he drove his tail through the water, letting it propel him out to sea. 

_ Oh, okay. _

It took him shockingly little time to catch up, but he continued to follow it out to sea, unsure of what he’d actually be able to do. 

When he saw the turtle, he panicked. 

It wasn’t his smartest idea, for sure, following it into the net, but he had to do  _ something, _ and he refused to let the little guy drown. 

Tangled up in the net with black spots dancing in his eyes and being slowly lifted towards the surface, Alex mentally cursed every adult who’d decided that Luke’s ocean fixation had been one they could finally healthily channel. 

Just when he was losing hope of both surviving and not being discovered and sent to an aquarium, a hand that must have been from heel to the tip of the middle finger the length of Alex’s forearm tugged on the net, easily ripping a hole in it like it was nothing. Alex watched numbly as the turtle swam free, too dizzy from the oxygen deprivation and rising panic as his brain tried to conceptualise a creature that big to even think of freeing himself, eyes squeezing shut to block out whatever horrific monster was going to kill him or leave him to drown. Instead of just leaving him, which honestly Alex would’ve preferred at this point, he was gently pulled out of the net and eased towards the surface. 

When he’d finished heaving for breath after breaking through the water to gulp in air, Alex finally ducked back below and kept his eyes open, sculling with his arms to stop himself sinking too far. 

It was…  _ not _ a horrific sea monster. 

Instead, it was a mer(man?) so pretty and huge that Alex suddenly felt bad for every time he’d teased Bobby for the pink tinge that crawled up his neck whenever Reggie shifted. 

This merperson was bigger than Reggie, easily, maybe six meters long, tail spotted like the whale sharks on the David Attenborough documentaries Bobby liked to fall asleep to. The similarities to Reggie stopped at their size though. Reggie in merform was bulky and blubbery, like the beluga that Luke insisted his tail was from. According to the boys, Reggie had been perfectly fine long after the other two had started getting cold whenever they went further out to sea, and the smattering of scales up his torso seemed to help with that, too. This merman was bulky in an entirely different way - muscles defined like Luke’s, but not padded as much, instead clean cut. Alex was pretty sure he would feel like marble if he touched him. He was way darker skinned than Reggie, too - than all of them - which was odd because they’d all become a lot paler with their shift, although, Bobby had suggested it was because they were all from waters near to their home countries, thousands of miles from the equator. 

In his three years of knowing Bobby, Alex must have nearly cracked a rib hundreds of times, laughing at how visibly Bobby blue screened when Reggie did something cute, like tried on Stacy M from Gym class’s skirt, or spend two hours attempting eyeliner in the garage mirror, or wear a hoodie three sizes too big. Staring at the huge merman below him, Alex absently apologised to Bobby, all other thoughts gone silent. Alex was pretty sure he’d never seen a prettier guy in his life.

After a minute of staring, the giant’s head broke the surface, next to Alex. “Hi,” he said, voice low and musical, like whale sounds. “Are you okay?” 

Alex scrambled for something to say, tongue heavy in his mouth and mind blank. Fuck, he was embarrassing himself in front of the gorgeous merman,  _ denk nach, du Idiot, sag doch endlich wa _ s. “I-Oh...hi? I’m.. yeah. Um. Thanks, I’m okay. Thanks for your help?” 

The merman laughed. Alex felt faint. “What were you doing in the net?” 

Alex groaned and hid his face in his hands, panicking when he bobbed under the surface for a moment when he forgot to take over keeping himself afloat with his tail. “I was… I was trying to help the turtle?” 

“You’re new to all this mer stuff, huh?” He - did mer people have genders? - asked, laying back like some kind of huge otter. 

Alex frantically paddled over so he was somewhere near the giant’s head, unsure if he’d actually be audible if he was much further away. “Is it that obvious?” He questioned, doing his best to keep his eyes on the merman’s face, not the way the water lapped at his collarbone. He wasn’t tucking his hair behind his ear in a flirtatious way, either, it was just because he was unused to having it plastered to his face.  _ Reggie _ tucked his hair behind his ear in a flirtatious way. Alex was just trying to see. 

The merman laughed again, but it didn’t feel mean, like Alex was used to. He didn’t feel mocked, even though usually when people laughed at him for being unused to something in a new environment, he did. “Totally.”

\----

“Alex!” Reggie yelped as soon as Alex eased the Molinas’ front door open, head still spinning with everything Willie had told him.

“Oh my god, where have you been, dude? We’ve been worried sick!” Luke added, hanging off Bobby’s shoulders. 

Bobby folded his arms over his chest. He looked annoyed, but the way he was leaning back into Luke’s hold suggested he was just as worried as the other two. “Nex’ time you make my blood pressure spike like tha’, I’ll make sure you never drink beer again.”

Julie didn’t say anything, just wrapped her arms around Alex and tucked her face under his chin, sighing quietly when he hugged her back. “Are you okay?” she asked eventually, leaning back until she made eye contact. “What happened?”

Alex shrugged a little and kissed her forehead. “I went swimming. I didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

“You went  _ what? _ ” All four of them asked as one, Julie easily chiming in like she’d known them for years. 

Alex shrugged, hoping his cheeks weren’t burning as obviously as it felt like they were. “i got stressed, and the internet lied to me, so i was sad about my iced mocha not solving my problems as well, and then i saw this boat, and it had the wrong nets - c’mon, Lucy, you remember the nets you told us about last summer? so i… went after it? And then there was this turtle, and then i almost drowned,  _ but _ _ ,  _ then there was this merman, oh my god, he was so big - bigger than you Reg-”

“And pretty, if your face is anything to go by,” Bobby remarked dryly, nudging julie until she shuffled to make room for him, Luke simply letting himself be dragged. “How pretty?”

He held out for all of five seconds. “So fucking pretty, oh my God, Bobman, you don’t understand.”

“And how was the water?” Reggie asked, hovering awkwardly for a moment until Alex offered his hand. “As bad as you thought?”

“Yes and no?” Alex waved the hand laced with Reggie’s back and forth. “I still hated it when we were out so deep that i couldn’t see the bottom, and when Willie and I were on the surface and the light reflected and i couldn’t see anything below… I hated that. but… I don’t know. I’m fast out there. I don’t feel helpless like I always used to feel in water, and actually being able to do something about it instead of just staring at the surface - or thinking about my mom - it… I don’t want there to be somewhere I can't follow you guys, and this is something I could realistically overcome, unlike everything else going on right now. When we were human, being in the water felt wrong. We’re… we’re not supposed to go in there. But now? We’re built for it.”

“Proud of you, wanker,” Bobby mumbled into his shoulder, flicking his arm. “Nex’ time you panic abou’ turtles, fuckin’ text us.”

Julie’s expression was weird, contemplative and withdrawn, but she offered him a half smile. “Good job, Allie. That was really brave of you.”

Luke scoffed, but when Alex looked over, he was practically brimming with pride. “‘lex is always braver than he gives himself credit for.”

“It’s true,” Reggie agreed. “He’ll panic about something for months, then do it for the stupidest reason. Still proud of you, though.” 

Alex rolled his eyes but squeezed Reggie’s hand appreciatively. “So, you wanna hear about what Willie told me?”

“I would love to,” Julie promised, interrupting the boys immediate mocking sighs and swoons. “But… there’s something i need to do first, okay? Flynn is coming over in a bit, and if i can do this… I want to be able to tell her I’ve done it. Okay?”

The four of them nodded, shooting each other confused looks, but none of them were willing to say anything to the slight sheen in her eyes and the determined set to her jaw. 

Julie breathed out shakily then walked out to the garage, a room they hadn’t really looked in much yet due to Julie’s own reluctance, and they scrambled after her immediately, tripping over each other and shushing themselves frantically. 

They watched through the garage window as Julie paced in front of the piano, tugging at the neck of her jumper for a minute, until she sat down in front of it, lifting the lid with the kind of tenderness that Alex reserved for Reggie when he was having a flare, hands shaking something fierce. 

Alex felt his breath catch in his throat and stay there as Julie cleared her throat, picking up aged sheet music resting on the piano and carefully lay it out. 

When she played the first note, that breath was practically forced out of his lungs, and tears pricked his eyes almost immediately. 

Reggie’s hand slipped back into his and Bobby’s cheek pressed against his shoulder as Julie opened her mouth. 

“ _ Here’s the one thing, i want you to know~” _

  
  



	5. How To Be Gay And Subtle About It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willie was still puzzling over his encounter more than a day later, when he was skating through Miami. He’d met his fair share of merfolk in his life and Alex was… unlike anyone he’d ever come across.  
> For one, having to save him out of a fisher net was, well. Unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup kidliwinks! Welcome to some willex and boggie rights, bc those awkward lil gays need to be loved, and also bc me and lotte project hard onto Alex and Reggie and we want to be loved (laughs in it's mental illness innit)  
> Anywho, mentions of discomfort (fibro) and anxiety and shit is based on our experience as always  
> And without further ado; enjoy!

Willie was still puzzling over his encounter more than a day later, when he was skating through Miami. He’d met his fair share of merfolk in his life and Alex was… unlike anyone he’d ever come across.

For one, having to save him out of a fisher net was, well. Unexpected. Willie had just been swimming, going about their day as usual and heard the boat’s motors from afar. Checking in on them was second nature at this point, and if they could help it they always made sure to save sharks or turtles or, in this case, mermen. Willie had also been very unsure of exactly what was in the net at first, because beyond a thrashing, pink figure they hadn’t been able to identify much else. And then the merman had simply stopped moving and Willie had to pull him out of the net and up to the surface. 

Alex was also unusual for his lack of actual sensible marine counterpart. Unlike other merfolk from the baltic sea, who were around the same size but a lot broader and paler in colour, Alex was all pink shades dancing over his tail, and long, frilly fins. He was beautiful in an otherworldly way, that didn’t match any of the merfolk Willie knew. 

The merfolk around Australia were batshit crazy, but the boxed jellyfish mermen he’d met had been beautiful in a dangerous, somewhat creepy way. The mermaids he’d made friends with near Honduras were bright colours and less then a third of his size, and the merfolk in the Amazon were just shades of brown but incredibly elegant.

Alex was… Alex was elegant even if he still moved uneasily in the water, bright and shining in the vast blue expanse of the sea, commanding attention in the way his tail moved through the water with long fins and elegant lines. He didn’t make _sense_.

And he still didn’t, because Willie had never met another mer who could shift between human and merform, much less four of them, but apparently Alex and his friends could. And Alex didn’t make sense because he was afraid of water, evident in the way he tensed every time he looked below into the waning abyss, and the way he had almost drowned himself for a turtle instead of just ripping the net open, for which he should have been plenty strong.

Willie was intrigued by him, that he could not deny. He was _incredibly_ intrigued by him, but the chances of seeing Alex were probably not that high. So Willie skated, relishing in the way his foot hit the ground to propel him forward on his board, and the wind ripped at his clothes, the thrill of avoiding humans on the sidewalk. He loved this part about being halfway human. Being among them, chasing a thrill in a way he never could in the water.

In front of them a group of four, presumably guys, were walking, with just enough space for him to squeeze past.  
“Beep beep, coming through!” they called, but it was too late, because the blond one was suddenly pushed directly into Willie’s way, and they crashed into him at full force, knocking both of them to the ground. Willie landed on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs, and he was glad he was wearing his helmet.   
“Oh shit!” one the other three said, while Willie and the blond guy groaned. Willie sat up first, grabbing his board, to inspect it. There was the tiniest scratch in the painted deck. “Aw, dude, you dinged my board!” 

“I dinged your board- dude you ran me over-” the other guy stopped, as did Willie, when he looked up. 

Because that was Alex. Right there, but different? He was a human now, for starters, and less pale, although still white, and his hair was still blonde, although it looked a lot prettier now that it was dry and hit directly by the sun, like threads of gold. 

Both of them scrambled up, staring at each other and holy shit. The mer Alex had been all lean muscles, and long sloping lines, fins dancing on the current and a bit less than half of Willie’s size. This Alex was taller - Willie actually had to look up to meet his eyes - and this Alex was broader too.

Willie’s thoughts about their skateboard and the Alex they’d met yesterday came to a screeching halt. All he could focus on was that this Alex was tall, and broad shouldered and taller than them.  
Alex gaped back, words having died in his throat. His eyes searched Willie’s face, landed on the skateboard, then continued roaming. “Willie?” he finally asked, the shock still evident.

Willie still couldn’t stop staring, as Alex tightened his grip on the strap of a fanny pack. They should probably say something.  
“Who’s Willie?” 

Not that, though. “I- okay, uh. We met yesterday, I think. Otherwise this is going to be really awkward,” Alex said, voice rising an octave. Willie finally shook himself out of his stupor. “Yeah, yeah, we uh- we met. You almost drowned yourself, I saved you, all that good stuff.”  
Willie closed his eyes for a brief second, because that was not how he’d wanted the conversation to go. Alex cleared his throat awkwardly and nodded.   
One of the other guys cut in, his voice tinged both with amusement and a bit of worry. “You good, Lexinald?” 

Willie turned his head, to see the three of them staring, eyes flicking between him and Alex, the one who’d just spoken with a bright orange beanie on his head.   
“Uh, yeah, I’m good. This is Willie, I told you about them,” Alex said, gesturing to Willie, who gave a little wave, and tried to smile.   
“Willie, these are the guys I told you about. That’s Luke,” Alex throwing a hand into the direction of the beanie wearing one, Luke, who grinned. “‘Sup.”   
“Hey, you’re the white beaked dolphin, right?” Willie held out a hand, which Luke took and shook. “Yup, that’s me.”   
“This is Reggie,” Alex gestured to a guy with dark brown hair and very blue eyes who held hands with the third one, who would then be Bobby. Reggie gave a bright smile and also shook Willie’s hand. “Nice to meet you, thanks for saving Lexi from drowning.”   
“Of course, you’re the Norwegian beluga, I take it?” Willie couldn’t keep the smile off their face, when Reggie lit up. “Yeah! Are you really a whale shark?”   
Willie laughed and nodded while Alex let out a somewhat disappointed sounding sigh.   
“‘N’ I’m Bobby,” Bobby introduced himself. He looked a bit sceptical, but still shook Willie’s hand.   
“You’re the gremlin from the UK,” Willie said unthinkingly. Luke choked on air but started chortling anyway, and Reggie began laughing so hard he had to bend over a bit. Willie’s attention found its way back to Alex, though, who’d also started laughing.   
He’d laughed yesterday, too, but that was mostly anxious laughter and he’d seemed uncomfortable. Now it was different. Mesmerizing.

Like the song of a blue whale, far in the distance, it’s voice carried by miles of sea, destined to find their partners. Like the gentle lapping of waves on abandoned beaches in the morning, where Willie sat and watched the sun rise in all its glory, a view he’d wished to see for years and years, and only now got to savour.

They couldn’t help but stare, as Alex laughed, almost entirely unaware of the way Bobby glared at them. 

“‘Scuse me?” Bobby asked, voice dry and low. Willie tore their eyes away from Alex, who was trying to sober up now, and realized that this statement might have been a bit hurtful.  
“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just- You Brits are kind of known to be small and aggressive and you’ve established this nickname for yourselves, especially in the waters around Europe.”   
Luke straightened, having stopped coughing, and wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, still giggling occasionally. “You don’t need to apologize, Willie, you’ve hit the nail on the fucking head with that, Mr Blobby over here is a literal gremlin.”

“I’m taller you, fuckwi’,” Bobby snapped. Reggie finally stopped giggling, and leaned into his shoulder carefully. “I think it’s cute.”

Bobby shut up immediately, pink creeping into his cheeks. Willie shot Alex a look. He’d warned them that his friends had a… weird dynamic going on between them, but they were just a normal couple from what he could see. 

“Don’t ask,” Alex muttered, stepping closer. 

Once again, Willie was forced to realize that Alex was taller than them, and had broader shoulders than him, and that that was… a very attractive thing. Since leaving his home waters Willie had almost always been the biggest mer around. Most remarkably around Hawaii, where there were tiny mers that lived on the backs of green turtles and cleaned them, but they’d been some of the sweetest he’d met.

He wasn’t used to being smaller. He didn’t mind.

“So how long have you been a mer...man? Merperson?” Reggie asked, still hanging off of Bobby.  
“Uh, my whole life, basically. I was born, well not really born, I hatched near the Phillipines, I can’t say how long ago though, I wasn’t really aware of time as a concept back then.” 

“Wait what the fuck, you’re like, born like that?” Luke gaped at him, mouth hanging open. Alex sighed next to Willie. “Okay- I. I told you guys that. I literally told you yesterday, was zur Hölle?”  
“I thought you were joking!” 

Reggie stared at Willie, eyes big and they could see the questions forming, Alex looking both disappointed and a bit distressed next to them. A bypasser shoved past, grumbling.  
“So, do you have any plans? We could get some coffee and I can explain some things if you guys want,” Willie offered. They took him up on it.

Willie spent a good two hours explaining some more stuff to the guys, some of which he’d already told Alex yesterday, some of which they hadn’t. The guys were curious, and Willie was curious about the guys. Because he’d never met anybody like them. There were thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of his kind in the waters all over the world, but he’d never met humans who could turn into mers.  
Their powers were also… not usual. They demonstrated with a bit of coffee, and Willie watched in fascination as Reggie froze it into a solid block, only for Luke to boil it up again. Bobby grudgingly transformed it into some sort of jelly, which was cool as hell, and Alex bit his lip, looking unsure.   
“Oh, c’mon, Lexi, you’ve been getting so good at it,” Reggie pleaded and Alex sighed, shooting Willie a nervous look, before lifting his hands slightly and coaxing the coffee out of the cup. It rose in a spiralling motion, swirling around the cup for a few moments before Alex let go of it.   
“That’s really cool,” Willie breathed, staring at Alex who avoided their eyes but looked somewhat proud of himself.   
“Right?” Luke grinned, leaning forward. “So, what can you do, what else is there to do with water?”

Willie chuckled. “Your powers are not what we mers usually have. We uh- we work with water as well but it’s different. It varies from person to person, obviously, but I have a bit of control over the weather. Controlling storms and making waves and such.”

Stunned silence greeted them. He looked down at his lap for a second, then over at Alex, who was staring with his mouth hanging open slightly. 

“That’s so cool, like. So cool. You have to… ah fuck what’s the word?” Reggie struggled for a couple of seconds, flailing his hands. “Vise det? The thing where you… goddamnit. Show us! You have to show us that sometime!”

“Oh, totally, we need to see that. I also wanna see if you’re actually that big or if Alex was just exaggerating from-” Luke cut himself off, but grinned. 

“Luke, ta gueule,” Alex hissed. Willie looked between them, unsure of what to make of that, also because they couldn’t really understand what the guys were saying if it wasn’t in English.

“I really wanna compete in diving with you, the others never go as deep as me,” Reggie interrupted. Bobby rolled his eyes fondly, bumping their shoulders together. “That’s cause you’re the only whale here, love.”

“It’s not really a competition, Reg, whale sharks have been recorded to get as deep as 1900 meters, and belugas only like, 650 or something,” Luke said.  
“I mean that’s true, but I’ve also met some gremli- british mermaids before and they can go even deeper when they want to.” Willie smiled at Bobby, who smirked when Reggie began spluttering.   
“Okay, so uh- Willie I hope it’s okay to ask this, but if you’re a mer from birth on, how come you have a human form?” Alex fiddled with a ring on his finger, a slightly nervous tone to his voice. The others shut up, glancing between them now. Willie had expected for this question to come, they were honestly surprised that it had taken so long until one of the guys asked.

“Yeah, it’s totally fine you’re asking, no worries,” Willie said, bumping Alex with his elbow slightly and giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “There’s this one merman I know, who’s crazy powerful, but with magic we don’t really usually have. He… well lets just say he was kind enough to help me when I realized I also wanted to experience the world outside of the water.” 

“I could probably introduce you to him if you wanted,” he added, after a few moments of silence, in which the four guys seemed to communicate only through silent glances at each other.

“That,” Alex started, “that would actually be really cool, but only if it’s no hassle for you.”

“Oh it’s fine, it might take a bit of time because he’s very busy, but I’ll see what I can do,” Willie smiled at Alex, which he also couldn’t seem to stop in general, but also because this might help him and they wanted to help Alex. Almost embarrassingly much.

Luke looked at his phone and swore. “Fuck, boys, we gotta get going, Julie wants us back.”

“Oh, okay, well. It was super nice meeting you Willie, we really need to go swimming together sometime,” Reggie said, getting up. Bobby nodded, and Luke agreed loudly, giving Willie a quick hug.

“Thanks for being so nice, I know we can be a lot,” Alex said, still sitting and turning to Willie. “Oh, it’s really no problem, you’re all fun to hang out with.” 

Alex nodded to himself for a moment, looking unsure, before he got up as well. “I’ll see you around?”

Willie nodded and smiled. “Yeah, of course.” He watched as Alex made to join his friends, who were waiting a few feet away, when he remembered something

“Hey, Alex, hold up!” he nearly fell over their feet in the haste of getting up. Alex turned. “You’ve got a phone, right? I can give you my number so we can settle on a day to go swimming, and stuff.”

Alex nodded, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He held it out to Willie, a shy smile on his face, that almost distracted them from actually saving their number. He sent himself a quick text. “Now I’ve got yours, too.”

Alex had stepped closer to get his phone back, and once again Willie was faced with Alex being tall. Not by too much, but still. He took a breath, and that stupid grin they hadn’t been able to wipe of their face was still there. Alex looked at them, smiling then down at his phone. “Thanks. Uhm. I gotta go but it was great seeing you again, so… bye.”

“I’ll see you around,” Willie repeated, and watched as Alex nodded then ran after his friends, cursing at them for not waiting for him. Now all he had to do was talk to Caleb.

___

Reggie wasn’t sure when he’d started considering Trevor Wilson to be something of a very distant father figure. 

It hadn’t been straight away, that was for sure, and it was hard to form that kind of relationship seeing as they’d only met in person once, when Trevor and Carrie had flown out to Florida for some gig or something, and every other meeting had been when they’d FaceTimed whilst the boys were at Bobby’s. 

Somewhere along the line, maybe when Trevor had called whilst Bobby had been out and Reggie had been having a bad enough day that when he’d answered to let Trevor know that his friend was out, he’d ended up letting the man coax him into explaining way was happening at home, or maybe when a pristine leather jacket with stamps from london had arrived on his door the day after his seventeenth birthday with a card that said _Happy Birthday, son_ , he’d started to trust Trevor, a lot.

He’d not really had a chance yet to call him and catch him up on things - God knew Bobby wouldn’t do it until Trevor forced his hand, not because of any love lost, just because he was a repressed _idiot -_ but once they’d finally sorted out the legalities, and got to Ray trying to enroll them in Julie’s music programme thingy at her school, it finally seemed like calling Trevor was overdue. 

As always, Trevor picked up on the first ring. “Hey, sweetpea, how’re you doing?” 

“I’m… weird,” Reggie said after a minute, laying back on the bed. Alex and Bobby had gone swimming, and Luke was either staring lovingly at Julie or writing music while thinking lovingly of Julie, so he had the whole room to himself. “Some weird stuff has happened.” Reggie sighed, shifting uncomfortably when the hem of his t shirt pressed into his back. “Like… a _lot._ I know Bobman hasn’t called, but he. He misses you and I, I wanted to talk to someone and I thought, since the last time, y’know, you talked me through all that, that maybe I could talk to you about it?” 

Trevor made a soft noise. “Of course you can, Reg. Tell me what’s been going on.” 

Reggie grabbed one of Luke’s hoodies off the floor and shrugged it on, shifting around again. “We’re mermen now.”

“You’re.” Trevor coughed. “I’m not doubting you here, but _mermen_? Am I missing something?” 

“I wish,” Reggie complained. “We moved to Florida, by accident, but also on purpose, and on our first night here we went for a boat trip, got, what does Bobbers always say, ratarsed? And then there was this storm, and we ended up on this island, so we went to find shelter, ended up in this fucky cave thing, then there was these champagne bubbles, and then we woke up in Puerto Rico with tails. Now we have tails and powers and we mildly got adopted and ‘lex has met this other merperson who’s really pretty and Bobert is so tiny when we’re in mer-form. Well, it’s more that I’m really big, but he’s, like, half my size, and he’s so pretty, and this is probably really awkward for you, but Al and Lucy would make fun of me if I told them and I don’t know Ray - that’s the guy who’s taken us in - well enough to really talk about it. Oh, and Julie can sing, we heard her sing yesterday or the day before, Uncle Trev, you don’t understand, she has an _amazing_ voice, you have to hear her sing sometimes, and Carrie would probably have a huge crush on Flynn - that’s Julie’s best friend - but, honestly, everything is amazing, but it’s so much, and me and Allie went home the other day and that was a lot of big feelings and my chest hasn’t really stopped hurting, and I just. I wanted to tell someone.” 

“Aw, sweetpea,” Trevor said gently. “I’m really glad you felt you could talk to me. That’s… a lot to go through in a few days. You got an ice pack?” 

“Don’t need one,” Reggie answered. “Well, I kind of do, I need some kind of thingy for the water to be in, but I can freeze water with my hands now. It’s weird, I’ll show you sometime when you visit.” 

“Oh wow, that’s... something.” Reggie could practically see Trevor doing his awkward little nod. “And… you’re twice the size of my son, when you’re…. when you have tails. And this is working for you?” 

Reggie snorted. “You sound very unsurprised.”

“Oh, I’ve known you’re gone on Bobby since the first time we met, Reggie, this isn’t surprising news,” Trevor reminded him. “So, tails? Wanna go into that?” 

“I’m a beluga. Beebob is a conga. Luke is a dolphin from Canada. Alex is gay.” 

“Alex is… gay?” Trevor echoed. “I thought we knew that. Did we not know that? Was I not supposed to know that?”

“No, no,” Reggie laughed and shook his head. “I mean, like. The three of us are all based on animals from where we’re from, right? You get conga eels around the U.K. and belugas near Norway, and white-beaked dolphins near Canada, but Alex is pink and frilly.” 

“Ohh,” Trevor said slowly. “He looks gay, I get it. Is… how’s Bobby doing, with it all? What are the others’ powers? Is Ray managing you all by himself?” 

Reggie smiled at the ceiling. He’d always wondered what it would be like to have parents that thought of him first, instead of their stupid fucking arguments, and he was beginning to think he knew how it felt. “If you want to come out to Florida, I won’t tell Bobbit. It could be a surprise. Carrie really would have a crush on Flynn, so she’d be happy here. There’s some really nice houses for sale I saw when me and Bertie went on a walk the other day.” 

“You…” Trevor paused, and Reggie could practically hear the indecision. That had always been the problem between Bobby and his dad, from what Reggie knew. Trevor didn’t want to cross boundaries, and Bobby didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted. “You think Robbie would be okay with that? Would _you_ be okay with it? I don’t want to intrude. And, don’t think I don’t want to know about your powers and everything else that’s going on, but I have a real estate website open, and -” 

Reggie ignored the bubble of pure... _belonging_ that burst against his ribs. Big feelings hurt, but sometimes that just helped them feel more real. “I’d really like it if you came out here, Uncle Trev. Bobble would, too, you two just can’t communicate. Send me the pictures though, you’re _awful_ at picking houses.” 

“Wow, rude,” Trevor joked. “Okay, I’ve emailed the ones I like the most, you pick for me, sweetpea. Carrie liked the dress you chose for her, so I trust your taste. Now, tell me everything you haven’t mentioned yet.”

Reggie grinned. “Did I mention that Alex’s new crush called Bobinald a gremlin from the U.K.?” 

“You absolutely did _not,_ how did that go?” 

“Awfully, how do you expect?” 

——

“Regbert?” Bobby asked gently, fingers carding through Reggie’s hair.

Reggie hummed, not bothering to open his eyes. “Yeah, Bobbadook?” 

Bobby poked his nose lightly. “Y’know I don’ like tha’ one. D’you think we’re gonna ge’ separated when we go’ school?” 

“I…” Reggie paused. “I didn’t even think about that. Do we still need extra-English? ‘Cause we’ve been in America for… like, ages. That was when we always had classes together.”

Bobby shrugged. “Dunno. They’ll shove me in sommet. Can’ say owt half th’ time. Lulu’s stubborn enough that they won’t be able’e stop him gettin’ pu’ in there wi’ me. Alexa’s got an accen’ when he’s all nervous, but he dun’ fuck up actual grammar tha’ often. Your English is perfect, ‘n’ your maths is bloody incredible. You’ll be off in’ smar’ classes in no time.” 

Reggie chewed his lip for a moment, tugging Bobby’s hand out of his hair so he could play with his fingers. “I can not speak English, if necessary. There’s always the weird mash up thingy we perfected back in sixth grade, if necessary.”

Bobby choked on a laugh. “Wha’, you mean the shitty language fes’ where we sign the conversation and say random words in random languages over’ top?” 

“I wouldn’t wanna abandon you guys,” Reggie joked, leaning up to press a kiss to Bobby’s jaw. It always felt weird when he did things like that, like he was taking advantage of his friend. Bobby thought it was friendly, and really, on some level, it was, because Bobby was one of Reggie’s best friends, and he would always love him as a friend, but he was also something _more,_ and if Bobby knew how Reggie felt about him, he probably wouldn’t let Reggie sprawl all over him and kiss him. Every time it happened, he promised himself he’d stop. For Bobby. He’d yet to meet that particular goal. “How would you guys pass maths if we didn’t have extra-English for me to coach you through basic factorising?” 

Bobby rolled his eyes, cheeks flushed a little. Reggie wondered if maybe he was a little warm what with Reggie’s weight on him. “I’m better than you at chemistry, Roger. Chemistry has maths.”

“You’re better than everyone at chemistry,” Reggie retorted. “And yet you still ask me about the maths. Just because you know how the steps of a back titration doesn’t mean you can do all the maths in your head.”

Bobby pulled a face. “Weirdo.”

“Says the person who genuinely enjoys organic nomenclature,” Reggie teased fondly. “Oh, I want you to look at these houses. I saw them while we were out walking and I want to see which is your favourite, because your taste in houses is dumb as fuck.” 

\----

Reggie wasn’t vibrating, even though Alex and Julie had called him out on it on three separate occasions. 

He really wasn’t. 

It was just that Trevor and Carrie were arriving _today,_ and Bobby had been moping about of late because he was conflicted about whether or not to tell them, and it was just going to be the best surprise ever when they showed up, knowing everything. 

Ray, surprisingly, pulled him aside before Bobby did.

“Hey, Reggie, is something going on?” He asked, quietly, even though the kitchen door was closed and everyone else was on the other side. “You know you can talk to me if something’s wrong, right?”

Reggie managed to hold it for five seconds. “Bibble’s dad is moving here,” he burst. 

Ray blinked slowly. “Is that a good thing? I’ve only really heard about Bobby’s mom, and I know she - well. She’s not the best.”

Reggie shook his head frantically. “Oh, no, Bobby’s dad is _awesome,_ him and Boobear are just awkward because they never learned how to actually speak to each other, but he’s really, really cool. He talked Alex down from the first panic attack we ever saw him have by accident, he’s super cool. But, uh, Bobstard doesn’t know?” 

Ray coughed. “He what?” 

“He doesn’t know,” Reggie repeated. “Hear me out, okay? He’s super awkward around Uncle Trev because his mum won custody and dragged him to North Yorkshire and Trev had to stay in London for his job with Carrie, so Bobster never really got to see him except for random weekends and facetimes and Trev doesn’t want to try _too_ hard and then alienate Bobby by taking up the dad-role that he hadn’t earned, but Bo-bee doesn’t want to ask him to step up and be his _dad_ dad since he doesn’t think he wants to, and it’s this whole mess, and now Boobob misses Trev and Carrie a _lot,_ and they miss him too, but no one will make the first move.”

“So, you did?” Ray asked.

Reggie nodded. “So I did.” 

Ray smiled weakly. “And when is Trevor getting here? Do I need to make any food? Is he expecting anything?” 

Reggie shrugged, leaning into Ray’s side tentatively when the man offered. “Probably not. He might like a cup of tea, though, so if you haven’t got any teabags, get some. Ask Bobear about that, though. The English are very particular about tea, but none of them have the same opinion. He’ll know what Trev and Carrie like.” 

Ray pulled him in gently, kissing his hair lightly. “Okay, mijo, I’ll ask him. Anything else you wanna tell me before I go attempt tea shopping with a Brit?” 

“Oh, it’s worse than that,” Reggie informed him. “He’s from _Yorkshire._ The only kind of tea he’s willing to drink is Yorkshire tea, specifically Yorkshire Gold, but Trev is from London, so he drinks, like, I don’t know, whatever they drink in London, PG Tips, or something. He’s gonna talk your ear off about how Yorkshire Gold is the only acceptable tea.”

“Dios mio, ” Ray murmured, then shook his head. “I’ll take it. It’ll be a fun bonding experience.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Reggie. 

“Sure, Ray.” Reggie nodded. “You have fun with that.” 

——

Reggie was stretched out across Bobby’s lap when the doorbell rang.

He tried not to be obvious, he really did, and he was sure no one really noticed his glass of water freezing, even if Luke did shoot him a weird look. 

Ray stood up first. “I’ll grab that. Bobby, do you wanna make a cup of tea for everyone?” 

Bobby squinted suspiciously. “Sure?” 

“Take Luke, we don’t have a kettle,” Ray said, then left to go answer the door.

Bobby turned a very concerning shade of pink. “You don’ have a _what?”_

Luke rolled his eyes and grabbed Bobby’s shoulder to steer him out of the room, and Reggie silently sent up a quick prayer to thank whatever entity was out there for him. Luke was always there for them, even if he didn’t know it. 

Alex crawled up the sofa until he was practically where Bobby had been. “What are you doing and why are you hiding it from Bobberman?” 

“Whaaat?” Reggie laughed awkwardly, even though Alex’s voice did the exact same high-pitched thing when _he_ was lying, so he’d definitely know something was up. 

“I’m not stupid, Regbert,” Alex reminded him. “I know what you look like when you’re trying to lie to our Booby. Tell me what’s up?”

Reggie shrugged and kissed his cheek. “Surprise.”

Alex frowned. “You hate surprises. _I_ hate surprises.”

“Yeah, well, this is a good one,” Reggie insisted, as he heard the door open. Alex heard it as well, and his head whipped up to stare at the living room door like he’d magically be able to see through it.

Trevor’s voice was mistakeable. “Hello? Mr Molina? I’m Trevor Wilson, I’m Bobby’s father. Is he here?” 

Alex turned back to look at Reggie in slow motion. “You didn’t…”

Reggie giggled. “Dadcula is here.”

“Boba is gonna kill you,” Alex told him.

Reggie rolled his eyes. “A, he won’t, he loves me, B, he won’t, he loves his dad.”

The hallway and kitchen doors opened at the same time, father and son making eye contact across the room. 

Bobby broke first. “Who th’ fuck’re you?” 

Ray appeared at Trevor’s shoulder, face the picture of concern, mouth open as if he was about to interject. 

Trevor snorted. “Listen here, wanker, I bought a house in fucking _Florida_ for you, so get over yourself. I _hate_ Florida. You know I hate Florida. Show some emotion for once, and give me a hug.”

Reggie grinned at Alex as Bobby made a weird choking noise that was the closest Bobby ever came to showing emotion. “You got a house in Florida for _me_?” 

“Of course,” Trevor said, with one of those stupid little hand flourishes that Reggie had always thought were impossibly cool. “You’re my son, and I love you, and you’re living in Florida with a man I’ve never met and the three idiots you call best friends. I want to make sure you’re safe, and well-cared for, even if you don’t want me to assume a role as your-”

“Thanks, dad,” Bobby managed to interject, and then he was on the other side of the room, arms thrown around Trevor and face buried in the side of his neck. 

Reggie couldn’t hear of anything else was said, but he’d always thought the best of Bobby, so he imagined that he said _I love you too._


	6. Four And A Half Gay Mermen Walk Into A Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie wasn’t entirely sure how she ended up here; about to sing in front of the Trevor Wilson. She’d sung for the first time in a whole year just for herself only a week ago, and here she was, with her idiots gathered around the piano, and Ray and Carlos sat on the sofa, and Carrie and Trevor freaking Wilson stood next to Bobby, watching her curiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya everyone!  
> We're back with the gays and they're as dumb as ever!  
> A quick disclaimer, because we get lovely theorizing comments about this a lot: we're not following any particular H2O storylines, this fic started as an H2O AU and is it's own monster now, and we genuinely forgot Dr. Denman was a character, so please don't trust us with actual storylines, we most likely don't remember.  
> As always mental & physical health issues are based on personal experiences  
> We hope you like it!

Julie wasn’t entirely sure how she ended up here; about to sing in front of _the_ Trevor Wilson. She’d sung for the first time in a whole year just for herself only a week ago, and here she was, with her idiots gathered around the piano, and Ray and Carlos sat on the sofa, and Carrie and Trevor freaking Wilson stood next to Bobby, watching her curiously.

She didn’t know what to think of Carrie.

Carrie was… everything Bobby wasn’t, except vaguely intimidating and confusingly attractive - Confusing because Julie couldn’t figure out if the intimidation added to the attraction or subtracted from it - she was dressed in a neat power suit, hair in neat curls, she was polite when she introduced herself, and her accent was very similar to the stereotypical British accent. Next to Bobby in his badly fitting joggers and Alex’s hoodie, she looked like a Princess. 

Then she opened her mouth.

It seemed the ruthless joking and insults weren’t an Alex&Bobby thing, they were a Wilsons&Alex thing. 

“Bobbers, darling, still struggling with the whole feeling lesser than everyone around you thing?” She’d asked as she’d kissed his cheek daintily.

He’d rolled his eyes and tugged her into a hug. “Are you still writing songs about how awesome you are to hide your crippling insecurities?” 

Trevor had sighed loudly. “This is why neither of your mothers love you, flowers. Get it together, we’re in polite company.” 

She seemed nice enough, though, to everyone else, and Bobby didn’t watch her as she hugged Reggie, which he still did for Julie and Flynn, so Julie assumed she was trustworthy. 

She breathed out shakily, resting her fingers on the correct keys. She glanced up, about to tell them she couldn’t do it, but Luke caught her eye, nodding encouragingly. 

Julie pressed down gently, and relaxed as she got into the opening bars. She could do this. 

As she played the closing bars, Trevor started clapping. “Damn, sweetpea, you were right,” he told Reggie, then turned to Luke. “You could learn a thing or two from Julie, pet.”

Luke wrinkled his nose at the petname, but tipped his head in acknowledgement. “Jules _does_ have an incredible voice.”

Bobby and Reggie looked at each other at the same time. It wasn’t the first time Julie had seen them do it, but it was still terrifying. “ _Band.”_

Alex made a considering face. “Not Sunset Curve, though.”

“Hm, true,” Reggie agreed. “Can Luke share a stage though?” 

“I already do,” Luke reminded them. “With you morons.”

Bobby rolled his eyes and elbowed Luke lightly. “He means front ‘n’ centre, ra’ bastard.” 

“What…” Ray glanced between them all, trying to follow the conversation. “What?” 

“We want Julie to join our band, but not Sunset Curve, maybe form a new band? But we don’t know if Luke will be able to share the attention of being lead singer,” Alex translated. “Which, he would be able to, he respects talent when he sees it.” 

Luke nodded. “Exactly.” 

Julie waved her hand in the air. “Woah, woah. I only sang for the first time in a year a _week_ ago. Don’t you think a band might be a little much?” 

All four boys blinked at her. “Um. No?” 

Carrie snorted. “Jesus. You’re all useless.” 

“Hey,” Bobby protested. “S’no’ like bein’ in a band with us is gonna be instan’ spo’ligh’, is it’? Jules’ll have bucke’loads ‘a time ‘a get used ‘a singin’ with us.” 

“God, I did _not_ miss your accent.” Carrie pulled a face. “But singing with people is still going to be a big thing, Robert.” 

“‘S’just us, though, inni’?” Bobby let Reggie lean against him, looking at Julie like the question was addressed to her as well. “You le’ us shack up in your garage, we can’ be tha’ scary.” 

Julie waved a hand back and forth. “Baby steps, maybe?” 

Luke rested his elbows on the piano and his chin in his hands. “You were amazing, Julie,” he told her gently. “And even if you don’t wanna sing with us, we’ll totally hype you up.”

“All the time,” Reggie agreed. “You’ll get so sick of us.”

“Nah, she won’ ge’ sick ‘a you, bu’ercup,” Bobby dismissed. “She’ll ge’ sick ‘a Lukey, though.” 

Luke stuck his lower lip out. “You won’t get sick of me, right Jules?” 

Julie laughed. “Not unless you get too annoying,” she promised.

“I would never.” 

“He so would,” Alex stage whispered, fist-bumping Carrie. “He’s like a cat. You have to give him a certain amount of affection and attention or he’ll scream.” 

“It’s true,” Reggie added, scritching the top of Luke’s head. 

Instead of protesting, Luke’s eyes fluttered shut and he sighed happily. 

Julie sniggered, hiding her smile behind her hand. “Oh, wow.”

Carrie cleared her throat, brushing invisible lint off her skirt. “They’re all just touch-starved,” she confided. “They’ll do just about anything if you hug them for long enough. Anyway, dad and I have to go, we are actually doing business whilst we’re out here.”

Bobby frowned. “Wha’ you guys doin’?” 

“Dirty Candy stuff,” Carrie explained, which didn’t mean anything to Julie, but clearly made sense to Bobby, because he nodded. “Family dinner isn’t until Friday, which you are all expected at.”

Trevor squeezed her shoulder gently. “What Care-bear means to say is that you’re all _invited._ Beebob, you _are_ required, everyone else, it’s up to you. Including you,” he added, glancing at Julie, then Ray and Carlos. “You’re all welcome.” 

Reggie linked his arm with Bobby’s, and Bobby relaxed a little and nodded. “Nowt fancy, though. ‘Kay?” After a pause he whipped around to look at Trevor. “Dad, if you ge’me chippy chish and flips I swear ‘a God I’ll- I’ll. Well, I don’ know what’, but I’ll be proper chuffed.”

Julie coughed into her fist. “What?” 

“If Uncle Trev gets him English Fish-and-Chip-Shop style fish and chips, he’ll be happy,” Alex and Reggie translated in unison. “Chips, like, thick cut fries.”

Trevor nodded. “I’ll see what I can do, Poppet. I don’t know where we’d get that around here, though.”

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Just get a deep fat fryer, dad. Bobbit’s been able to cook them for himself since he was… well, probably too young to be left alone near a deep fat fryer.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve all got mummy issues, give over,” Bobby leaned against the piano so he could take more of Reggie’s weight, the other boy’s eyes closing. Julie still hadn’t entirely managed to sus out what was going on with those two, and every time she saw them within five feet of each other, she only got more confused. “Ge’ ou’a here. You’ve go’ a record deal ‘a sign or wh’ever.” 

“Get fucked,” Carrie said fondly, reaching over the piano to pinch Bobby’s cheek.

Bobby snorted and slapped her hand away lightly. “Suck a dick.”

“Yes, yes, you’re both hilarious, kiddos,” Trevor clapped his hands. “Care, Princess, let’s go, I’m sure Mr Molina wants his house and his kids back.” He turned to smile at Ray. “Let me know if you need a hand with any of them, okay? We’ve got a place down on North East 5th Ave, at Biscayne Park? Feel free to just drop the kids off there at any time, I’ll get Bobbit a key.” 

Ray nodded and offered a hand. “Thanks, Mr Wilson, I appreciate it. And please, call me Ray.”

“No problem, Ray. And please, Trevor.” Trevor smiled and shook his hand, then steered Carrie out after kissing Bobby’s hair and patting the other boys on the cheeks fondly. 

Julie cleared her throat after they’d left, glaring at the boys. “Did _anyone_ plan on telling me that Bobby’s dad is a famous rockstar or was the plan all along for him to _show up at my house?”_

Bobby held both hands up in surrender immediately. “I ‘ad no idea he were comin’!” 

Reggie waved sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I got so caught up in surprising Bobbert that I forgot to tell anyone else. Plus, i never remember that he’s famous. Carrie acts more famous than he does.” 

“Carrie _is_ in a dance group that’s doing pretty fucking well,” Alex chimed in, sitting on the couch. Luke followed him, sprawling out across his chest and making demanding sounds until Alex started carding his fingers through his hair. “You should google Dirty Candi, Jules. They’re really good.”

“Allie likes to dance with them,” Reggie told her, grinning. “He’s way better than you’d expect.” 

“What do you mean, “than you’d expect”?” Alex complained. “Do I not _look_ like an amazing dancer?”

“You look like a blond heron with anxiety,” Bobby remarked, guiding Reggie towards the armchair. 

Ray snorted. “Good god. Right. So, I have some forms I need you to fill out as part of applying to school, and Julie has holiday homework that’s due on Monday, so she needs some time without you four distracting her.”

“We would never,” the four of them protested at the same time. 

“I can help, if it’s maths,” Reggie offered. “And Bobbers is a science whiz.”

“‘Cept physics,” Bobby interjected. “ _Fuck_ physics.”

“Valid,” Luke said, Alex nodding seriously. 

Ray groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Please, just do the forms, boys. No swimming until they’re fully completed.” 

——

“We’re going to meet Willie tonight, right, guys?” Alex asked, throwing a rubber ball at the ceiling. “‘Cause, like, we start school tomorrow, and I don’t wanna stay out too late.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” Luke complained from his spot curled up next to Julie like a house cat. “Besides, we’re going so _you_ can spend more time with them.”

Alex stammered, turning red, and Julie offered Luke a high five. “I’m not - I don’t. I thought we all liked him?”

Bobby snorted. “No’ like you like ‘im. D’y’think I spend hours smilin’ a’ ceiling thinkin’ abou’ their smile? Really? ‘Specially no’ after he called me a fuckin’ _gremlin._ ” 

Julie grinned at Luke, feeling a weird warmth bubble up in her chest when he snickered. Bobby didn’t have time to stare at the ceiling thinking about Willie considering how much time he already did that about Reggie. 

“I hate you all,” Alex told them seriously. “I’m running away to, to-”

“To the Pacific to live out your gay merman dreams with the gorgeous whale shark who thinks you’re a snack?” Reggie asked, high giving Bobby without looking. “Wish you the best of luck, babes, you’ll be living the dream.” 

Luke nodded. “Where’s _my_ gigantic whale boyfriend? You two have both got one,” he teased, motioning to Alex and Bobby.

Reggie turned red, but stubbornly pressed on. “You’re Julie’s gigantic whale boyfriend. And me and Bobbers aren’t - we’re not-”

“You’re full’a shi’,” Bobby summarised, taking Reggie’s hand to comfort him. 

“Wait,” Alex interrupted just as Luke opened his mouth. “You’re genuinely not together? Huh. Wild.”

Bobby squinted at him. “No? Don’ y’think we would’a told yes if we’d star’ed goin’ ou’?”

“Honestly, not really.” Luke shrugged and exchanged glances with Julie, who had to fake a cough to disguise herself laughing. “I mean, I assumed you’d told us at some point and I’d just been checked out of the conversation, but also if you’d‘ve just not told us, I also wouldn’t be surprised. You don’t like emotional conversations.” 

Reggie tipped his head in acknowledgement. “They do got you there, Beetle. Though, we’re not dating. So. Plus, I would’ve told you?”

Julie raised her hand. “Bobby would’ve bet thay Alex and Luke wouldn’t notice, and you’d take him up on it,” she suggested. That had happened two days ago, when Bobby had accidentally crystallised the coffee pot. They hadn’t even known he _could_ do that, seeing as they’d only seen him jelly-fy things so far, but it had still taken her dad six hours to notice that the pot was filling up so quickly because of the massive chunk of coffee-Crystal at the bottom. It genuinely wouldn’t have surprised her to find out that Reggie and Bobby had just been playing a long con. 

“We would do that,” the pair agreed in unison.

Alex snickered. “Yeah, we know. You’re both idiots.”

“You’ve been checking the clock every ten minutes for the last hour and we’re not even meeting Willie for four more hours,” Reggie retorted. “So, who’s stupid now, huh?” 

“Still you,” Luke said. “Lexi isn’t stupid, he’s smitten.”

Julie grinned to herself and poked Luke’s side to get his attention. “Al is stupid _and_ smitten, because the clock he’s looking at doesn’t even work.” 

___

Alex really had been telling the truth when he’d said that Willie was massive. He was. Even Luke felt somewhat dwarfed by him, as they swam out into deeper waters. And he was already a lot bigger than Alex and Bobby. Reggie was ecstatic, and had not stopped pestering Willie for a good ten minutes until Alex had managed to create a wave that pushed Reggie under, which had resulted in Willie staring at him with lovesick eyes. 

So now he was out here on his own with four idiots who were smitten at least, in love at the most. Alex was still newest to this whole actually swimming thing, but had somehow managed to be one of the fastest of them, despite only being pink and frilly. Willie was leading them, moving gracefully through the water despite their size and Alex swam alongside them, movements faster and more eye catching. Bobby blitzed in and out of Luke’s view, his dark colouration helping hide him in the darkening water and hiding behind Reggie who kept flashing Luke wide grins. Alex swooped down, almost tiny against Willie’s broad and muscular back, and tapped him on the shoulder before turning slightly to Luke and the guys and signing to go up. 

They broke the surface at roughly the same time, bobbing on the current in a circle, looking at Alex. “What’s the matter Lexi?” Luke asked, noting the slight discomfort on his face. He still didn’t like the seemingly endless abyss below them.

“I was just… where are we going, exactly?” Alex turned slightly to Willie, pushing some of the hair off his forehead. Willie gave Alex a warm smile. “I didn’t want to freak you out because of its reputation, but the guy I want you to meet kinda lives in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.”

Luke sucked in a sharp breath, because that really wasn’t what he’d expected, but watched as Alex’s face seemed to get impossibly more pale and Reggie started grinning. Bobby simply looked mildly surprised.

“So is the Bermuda Triangle, like, actually this bad? That’s so cool,” Reggie looked like he was trying to high five Bobby, but accidentally pushed him backwards through the water and under the surface a bit instead. Bobby resurfaced, spitting out some water but he didn’t look annoyed as he had when this had happened to Luke. Being pretty fucking big messed with your perception of your own strenght, who would have guessed.

“Hey, you okay? I’m sorry I didn’t say earlier, I promise it’s not dangerous for us, and I’ve swam this specific route a lot.”   
Luke turned his attention from Two Idiots 1 to Two Idiots 2, to see that Willie had swam closer to Alex and ducked his head slightly to speak to him. Luke had noticed this the first time they’d met them, but Willie seemed to be quite aware of how to interact with Alex, and their low, melodic voice seemed to have a calming effect on Alex. No wonder, he’d hated Luke’s marine obsession but still listened to whale sounds sometimes to fall asleep.

Alex stared at Willie for a second, then looked away and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. It’s just- we’re not going to see any wrecks or something, right? I’m barely okay with the, with sea and everything so I don’t- I just don’t wanna see that…” he trailed off, and Luke moved closer himself, finally, because there it was again, the harder pronunciation of ‘w’ that Alex always struggled with when he got really nervous.

Alex caught his eye and gave a short nod, to indicate he was okay, but Luke stayed close anyway. Willie nodded, pushing some of his hair behind their ear. “Nah, we don’t have to see any of the wrecks on that route, I can take Reggie or anyone who wants to see them though.”

Reggie wrapped a hand around Bobby’s arm, his literal hand encompassing Bobby’s arm, and pulled him closer. Bobby looked more annoyed this time, but clung to Reggie’s forearm afterward. 

Reggie was beaming, eyes shining. He’d always been the one to like conspiracies and mysteries the most. “Can you really? That would be so cool! Oh! Do you know where Flight 19 is?”

Willie laughed, and Alex stared again, his face taking the colour of his tail. Luke snorted as quietly as he could, but was heard anyway. Alex sent him a warning glare, cheeks still pink. Willie lifted a fist out of the water and held it out to Reggie, grinning. “Yeah, I can take you there soon.” 

“You’re my new favourite person, you know that?” Reggie bumped their fists together and looked about to start rambling, but Willie looked at the sky, and a crease appeared in their forehead. “We need to get a move on, he doesn’t really like waiting.”

Luke followed close behind, now flanked by Reggie and Bobby, as they swam further out. Willie brought them to a current that Luke was pretty sure he should have heard about, because it felt almost like it was doing most of the work for them, a lazy river, only a lot faster. It took them about 600 miles since they’d set out from Miami, until Willie motioned for them to come up for air.

“Alright, we’re going to have to dive now, not too deep,” they said, looking at Alex before he could even open his mouth. “But around 490 feet, and then there’s gonna be a few caves to swim through, so please stay close to me.”

They nodded, taking a minute to take a few deep breaths. Alex looked nervous, staring at the darkened sky as if it would provide him a way out of the water. Willie bumped his shoulder lightly with the palm of his hand, and held out his left pinky. “You can hold on, if you want. Your body will make sure you don’t die of the pressure in the depth, and we’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”

Alex mumbled a quiet thank you, and the two smiled at each other, before Alex looked to Luke and the boys, bobbing in the waves just a few feet away. Luke glanced at Bobby and saw the approving look on his face. The easiest way to Bobby’s heart was being nice to Reggie and taking care of Alex, and listening to Luke himself, and Willie had done all that. So even the ‘gremlin from the UK’ couldn’t stay annoyed with them for long.

Alex gave them the nod that meant he was ready, and wrapped a hand around Willie’s pinky and they dove. From just behind them, it looked kind of hilarious, like Willie had wrapped some kind of frilly pink fabric around their finger that was now trailing behind him in the water, as Alex’s fins rippled in the current. 

Luke quickly found himself distracted with the fact that they dove, and dove and they could still see somehow, not all that well, but nevertheless he could make out shapes at the bottom of the sea that was coming up to meet them. Bobby was holding onto Reggie’s right shoulder, letting him do the work, and sent Luke a thumbs up. Willie slowed down, then wove his massive bodies between rocks and sand with such ease that it spoke of years of practice, his long tail never even so much as scraping against the dark forms around them. Alex still held onto him, and Willie seemed to take great care in making sure he also didn’t get scratched up, bringing his arm in so that Alex was practically swimming directly under his chest.

Luke could only imagine how his face looked right now. Bobby watched the two swimming in front of them with a look that spoke of gratitude and a bit of jealousy that he wasn’t in the same situation, but with Reggie right now. Reggie looked like he was having the time of his life. The rocks around them started to form a tunnel, and then suddenly Willie swam upward again, and Luke broke through the surface with a surprised gasp. 

“Pretty cool, huh?” Willie grinned, while Luke and his boys looked around. The cave? It was a cave they were in, was massive, a dome spanning high over their heads, illuminated by… something. Bioluminescence? 

“Yeah,” he said, leaning back to gaze up. It looked almost like the night sky, only with a mirriad more stars than the actual one held. “This is pretty incredible.”

“It only gets better,” Willie said. He looked at Alex again, as they so often did, and Luke suddenly missed Julie acutely. He wished they could bring her with them, to see this, to experience the water and hopefully give her the same sense of calm it gave them.

“We have to swim a bit more, and then there’s this- well. You’ll have to wait and see.” Willie sounded hyped, and grinned, clapping their hands together. Then he sobered up. “We uh- we’re going to meet him, Caleb, soon. I’d advise you to keep your distance, he’s… spiky.”

Luke had not expected for Willie to mean this literally, but this Caleb was, indeed. Spiky. And big. Bigger than even Willie was. They’d swam through the cave, into another one, all of them glowing in soft blues and muted yellows, a galaxy in a shell. It felt magical. Truly magical. And then Willie had stopped, and nodded ahead, and Luke’s throat had gone dry.

Caleb was probably around a meter bigger than Willie. And kind of, well, yeah, scary. “Ach du Scheiße,” Alex muttered next to him, and Luke knew only minimal German, just enough to annoy Alex, but that he understood crystal clear. 

Caleb had his back turned to them, but with the glow and the clear water in the cave they could see his outline perfectly. He was pale, as they all were, except for Willie, and long spikes with tissue between them formed his dorsal fin, running along down his tail, which was long, and thin, ending in a pectoral fin formed out of what looked like crescents, which also looked to have spikes in it, and smaller fins gathered at it’s base. The tail seemed to be shifting colours when it moved, stripes of deep, almost black purples, and reds and blacks bleeding together on a white base. The closest fish Luke could associate with that was lionfish, but those were… way smaller than Caleb was. 

They all stared at the merman, in awe, when Willie shifted forward slightly. “Hi, Caleb. I brought the guys with me, that I told you about. I hope that’s okay?”

For the first time since Luke had met them, Willie sounded a bit nervous. Alex pressed into Luke’s side now, their hands disproportionate in size, but still tangling together. Caleb turned. He had blue eyes, icy blue and _glowing_ , eyes that struck Luke first. He had a bright smile, almost too wide and teeth that ran into pointy ends. His gaze ran over them, slowly, before landing on Willie.

“Of course, William, thank you for bringing your new… friends here. Welcome, boys, to the most exclusive party you can find at the bottom of the sea!” his voice boomed through the cave, warm and inviting, and Caleb spread his arms in greeting. His arms and hands were speckled with clusters of scales, also shifting their colours, and his fingers were long and thin, ending in almost claw-like fingernails. 

Caleb was imposing, and beautiful in a way that enticed Luke to swim closer, but also to stay away. He looked dangerous and fascinating all at once, and Luke couldn’t really look away. Next to him Alex made a choked sound. 

Willie tensed, slightly, only his shoulders drawing up a fraction, when Caleb spoke to him. Then they turned and sent the four of them a tight smile. Alex’s smaller hand in Luke’s tensed as well, and Reggie pressed into his other side, with Bobby basically already attached to him.

“Uh- hi. Sir. Thank you,” Luke said, after a moment of silence in which the only sound was the ripples of water lapping against the rocks. Caleb smiled again, his gaze coming to rest on Luke. “No need for the Sir, I’m Caleb.”

“I’m Luke, and that’s Reggie and Bobby and Alex,” he introduced them, and they all gave little indicators to themselves. Reggie was the first to say anything apart from Luke. “It’s very nice to meet you, Caleb. This is a pretty cool cave and location you have here.”

Caleb’s smile widened again, and he nodded at Reggie. Bobby pressed closer to him.   
“William, why don’t you take our guests to the actual party? I still have some guests to greet and will be with you boys shortly.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure Caleb,” Willie nodded and gestured them along, Caleb moved to make room, and Luke felt smaller than ever, passing the gigantic man. He didn’t even want to know how Alex or Bobby felt. They swam deeper into the cave system, until it opened up into an even bigger one, that was glowing not only with what Luke assumed to be algae, but also… just light. High up on the rocky ceiling was some light source he couldn’t identify. And this cave was, well. Full of people. There was some kind of stony plateau rising from the water, on which a multitude of merfolk lazed around, some in tiny ponds, some just on the stone, in a vast variety of species and sizes, and colours. It was incredibly overwhelming.

“Willie, what is this, exactly?” Alex asked quietly, having caught up to them and propping himself up on one of the bigger mer’s shoulders. Willie tilted his head slightly, to look at Alex first and them next. “This is the Bermuda Merfolk Club,” they said. “Caleb is a very powerful man, so powerful in fact, that he can turn himself and others into humans at will. Many come here to experience that, and he’s got a ton of other tricks he shows off sometimes. Maybe he can help explain some things, or help you with it, you know?”

“Bu’ we can already shift in’a humans, we _are_ humans,” Bobby said. 

“Don’t say that one too loud, please, you’re kind of unusual,” Willie looked around uncomfortably, before leading them to a less populated piece of rock and gesturing for them to get on it. Luke went first, placing his hands on the surprisingly warm stone and hauling himself up onto it with more ease than he expected. He kept forgetting how strong they were. Reggie went next, helping himself gain some leverage before landing on the rock, trying to not fall onto it with his whole body weight. Luke pulled him up and higher, so the rest of them could also get up. Bobby went under for a second before shooting up and almost propelling himself onto the stone and nestling into the small space between Reggie and Luke.

“Let me help,” Willie said as Alex braced his hands on the stone. Bobby dug a sharp elbow into Luke’s side, snickering.

“Th’fucker makes fun ‘a me, bu’ look a’im now.”

Indeed, when Luke looked at Alex, he was blushing bright red as Willie gently lifted him onto the stone, once again making sure none of his fins got caught on possible sharp edges. Alex cleared his throat and scooted over to Luke and the guys. “Wow, Lexibald, all you gotta do is look as gay as you are and you already have someone carrying you everywhere,” Reggie said, laughing as Alex blushed even more. 

Willie heaved themself up onto the stone, brushing some of their hair behind their ears, and sending them all, but probably Alex specifically, a happy smile. “You hold your- wait no. You shut your fucking mouth, Regenmann, or I will spill on you.”

“So, what exactly happens now?” Luke asked, butting in before the two of them could start an actual bickering argument. They loved each other, dearly, but once you let Alex and Reggie get started stopping them was basically impossible. Alex settled into his side, managing to throw his tail over Luke’s, and Willie perched next to them, looming up high, and Alex kept glancing at him.

It was adorable. Luke would have to definitely make fun of him soon. Willie looked up at the cave’s ceiling, then back out over the water. Luke couldn’t keep his eyes off the other merfolk around them. Willie had told him- them all, really- that there were many different kinds but actually seeing some in the same place was overwhelming in a way. A trio of tigershark tailed, men? He presumed they were men, sat a few feet away, looking over with interest. They were quite big as well, not as big as Caleb, but similar to Willie. Further back on the rocky plateau was a group of smaller mermaids, their tails glittering in different colours, and shifting with their movements. 

“Caleb always does a little show, and he promised to come talk to you after, so we wait and enjoy the show.” Willie crossed his arms over his chest, and rubbed a spot on his left arm with his thumb. Alex also seemed to notice it, but he nodded and began running his hands over the scales on his tail. 

They all had a different feel to them. Bobby’s tail was gritty and the scales were uneven. Alex's tail was smooth, only small ridges between the scales perceptible. Luke’s own tail was also smooth, but his scales overlapped a bit, as if to link together to shield him from something. And Reggie’s tail was less smooth than Luke and Alex but even, with divots between the scales, filled with smaller ones. 

Luke was still fascinated with the whole thing. Unlike Reggie, who still puzzled over conservation of mass and how he managed to become so big in a matter of seconds without feeling anything, Luke had just accepted that it was magic and that he shouldn’t question it.  
It was just cool, and had fully reignited his love for the ocean.

“Have you ever been to the coast of Canada?” he blurted out, at Willie who raised one brow for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty dope up there, but very cold. And a bit dangerous, to be honest. The moose didn’t like me and some of the orcas tried to chase me around, but a pod of myour sort saved me.”

“I want to fight an orca,” Luke said, while Alex’s jaw dropped. “You’re not fightin’ a bloody orca, y’idiot, you’re gonna die.” Bobby snapped.

“You were attacked?” Reggie’s voice went up, but not with worry like Alex’s did, but interest. Willie looked between them, their eyes crinkling with a smile. “Yeah, but nothing bad happened, really. I also wouldn’t advise fighting orcas, Luke, they’re very smart.”

“‘N’ you aren’, Willie’s righ’,” Bobby said. Willie’s face fell and he started to fumble for an apology “No, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that! I just-”

Alex laid a hand on Willie’s forearm and softly shook his head. “It’s fine, Lucky Luke knows he’s dumb.”

Luke was about to protest, when a wave rolled through the cave, building up and crashing over them. It pulled at Luke, but he had enough mass to say where he was, reaching blindly for his smaller friends. Reggie had pulled a suddenly very red-faced Bobby to him, and Willie had made a grab for Alex, who looked like his brain had short circuited again. Idiots, both of them.

Caleb rose from the roiling waters.

“Good evening, everyone, have you missed me?”

A roar rose through the cave, echoing and bouncing off the walls, swelling like the wave had done just seconds earlier. “I missed you too!” 

Cakeb had charisma. A connection to the crowd that one could only wish for. He’d have made a great musician, Luke decided, as he felt himself swept up almost literally, in the wave of enthusiasm for the show the merman put on. He also seemed to have control of the water the way Alex did, pulling it up in a maelstrom around himself and vanishing in it, and he made it rain, some of it glow. None of it was really all that impressive though, things Alex could learn with time or they could all experiment on together. 

Luke wasn’t too sure this man would actually be able to maybe help them, but Willie looked enthralled, and Alex trusted Willie, so he trusted Willie too. It came at the end of the trickshow, Caleb closer to the rocky plateau than before, carried by a column of water.

“Haven’t we all longed for it? The feeling of legs? Of knowing what sand feels like between toes, and what it’s like to walk amongst the humans we only see from far below or far away?”

The crowd agreed loudly. Caleb turned his brilliant smile over to them, and winked. “Well, wait no longer, we shall all experience it now!”

And there it was, the familiar bubbling sensation, and rising of bubbles around them, and Luke found himself on now dried rocks in his jeans and sleeveless shirt. Loud gasps of astonishment and wonder sounded around them, and Luke shared a look with the boys, as they shifted closer together, now that they were fairly similar in size again. Alex immediately drew his knees up to his chest and started drumming his fingers on them. Willie, also back in the human form Luke had met them in, scooted closer and gently took one of his hands in his. 

Caleb had also turned, shifted, whatever. He was a tall man, with dark hair and the same handsome face and smile, only that he looked more… well, human for a lack of better words.

He strode over, and they scrambled up. “It’s nice to finally meet you boys at eye level, almost.”

He laughed at his own joke, not mocking but warmly, since he was taller than even Alex.

“It’s really cool how you can turn everyone into humans,” Reggie said, who now that they could again, had an arm around Bobby’s shoulders. Caleb regarded them for a second and nodded. “It’s a long practiced skill, so imagine my surprise when dear William told me he’d met four guys who could do it at will.”

“Oh, we can’t do it at will,” Lule snorted. “We touch water and ten seconds later we’re mermen. We were actually hoping you could help-”

Caleb interrupted him, raising a hand. “We have time for that later. Now, my friend Willie,” he paused, looking at Willie who stood side by side with Alex, their tangled hands still hanging loosely between them. “Told me you boys have some magic of your own?”

Silence hung heavy between them. They didn’t know exactly what Willie had told Caleb, so they didn’t really know what to say. Somehow, it was still Alex who cleared his throat.

“Wha- Willie and I? I mean. I uh- I wouldn’t really call it magic, but I mean-” his voice cracked, multiple times and his gestures were too big, and Luke couldn’t help but stare at the disaster his best friend was being. 

“Oh, oh no, Alex. He means like, the powers you guys have with water. So like. Cryokinesis and such, you know?” Willie looked somewhat red in the face and next to him Bobby mumbled a ‘for fucks sake’ under his breath. Alex looked panicked immediately, but before he could make things even more embarrassing for himself, Luke jumped in.

“Yeah, we have different abilities to manipulate water or everything that contains a higher percentage of it. So I can make it boil and evaporate, Alex can control it, Bobby sort of jellyfies or crystalizes it? And Reg can make it ice.”

Alex exhaled and sent Luke a thankful look. Bobby nodded, drawing closer into Reggie as Caleb nodded. “That’s quite interesting, it really is.”

“Willie told us you have unusual powers for merfolk, is it true that others can manipulate the weather? How does that work, because you’d need to change the pressure in the atmosphere rapidly to create supercell systems and-” Reggie leaned forward a bit. Caleb laughed.

“You’ve caught yourself quite the talkative catch, huh?” he asked Bobby, who looked slightly irritated at Reggie being interrupted. “I don’t have the power to control weather, but William does. He might be able to answer some of these questions, since he’s been making storms for me for a few years now.”

Luke and the boys swung around to stare at Willie in a synchronised motion, and they looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. Alex still held his hand, but Willie dropped it and took a step back. He let out a weak laugh. “Uh, yeah. I can do that, answer the questions I mean, sometime. Sure.”

“Why don’t you talk to some of our friends from the brazilian coast for a minute?” Caleb didn’t look like he was asking, not really, and Willie nodded, shooting Alex an apologetic look before they disappeared into the crowd of milling merfolk that seemed to love the luxury of having two legs.

“You know, Willie’s a good one. Very powerful, but that really is only impressive when in open water. Seeing the sky just shutter close with clouds and a storm break out in a matter of minutes is quite something,” Caleb mused. 

Alex stepped up to Luke, and he pulled him closer out of reflex. Caleb looked at them with a thoughtful expression, gaze of no longer glowing but still ice cold blue eyes travelling over them individually, as if he was appraising them. “I could use you four boys in the show, you know? Little tricks to impress my audience.”

“Wha’d we ge ou’a tha’?” Bobby asked. Caleb smirked. “And you’ve got yourself a feisty one,” he said to Reggie.

“We’re not-” Reggie started, but Alex shook his head at him. Not the time, nor the place to delve into the two idiots and their denial of the feelings both of them obviously reciprocated.

“I could help you, with the shift between your forms. You could turn at will, if you only help me out a bit, every few days down here.” Caleb’s face was friendly, and the offer was… enticing. Bobby gnawed on his lip, and Alex stared at the floor, Reggie at Luke. So he spoke.

“Look, uh, Caleb. The offer is nice, it’s super nice, but we maybe have a band going up there,” he pointed to the ceiling of the cave and the millions of tons of water piling on top of that. “So we probably can’t really do that.”

He felt remorseful, because it would really be helpful to not have to avoid water at all times, but, if they had a chance to rebuild their band with Julie, then there was nothing in the world that would stop him from it. Caleb nodded.

“I understand. But if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me. I imagine you boys need to get home soon, it’s a long swim back to Miami, so I’ll let you go.” 

He shook their hands, and a slight tingle raced up Luke’s arm as he did, but that was probably due to being touched by someone with a lot of magic and a merform that was highly venomous. Caleb wished them a good journey home, and Willie rejoined them, his shoulders tense. 

“Let’s get you guys home,” they said, before Alex, or Luke, or any of them, could ask if he was okay. Willie dove into the water, and after a short moment Alex followed. Luke jumped in after him, thinking of Julie, as the bubbles encased him and he grew in size. On the surface there was light, and music, and Julie, and he really wouldn’t miss that for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoyed!  
> Also, Meg did a super cool drawing so you can picture the sizes of the mergays better that you can find on our blog on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/anxiousacesexplorethelitverse), where you can also ask questions about this if you want, we are desperate to share details that won't make it into the fic.  
> Otherwise, thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed!


	7. The Epic Highs And Lows Of Being A Secret Merman In Highschool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex didn’t really know how to feel about… a lot of things right now. He used to get into the gigantic bathtub at Bobby’s place when he needed time to think and try to sort through his feelings and thoughts in a room full of steam and a tub full of bubbles. But with becoming a merman whenever he touched water that option kind of… fell flat.  
> Bobby wasn’t looking forward to the first day of school.  
> For starters, it was school, and compared to the how utterly fucking wild the last few weeks had been, the monotony of being bollocked about his accent when he did speak, and his inclination for BSL over ASL when he couldn’t sounded pretty dreadful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup kiddies! Welcome to another chapter of dumbassery and pining, we hope you enjoy :))  
> As per usual, the anxiety anf fibro stuff is based off our own personal experience, however the stuff with Bobby and sign is based off research and the sign I (meg) learned growing up which,,, is a very loose grasp, so it’s been augmented fairly heavily by the British sign website. Please feel free to reach out in the comments/the dms of our account @anxiousacesexplorethelitverse on tumblr if you think something needs to be altered :))  
> Enjoy!

Alex didn’t really know how to feel about… a lot of things right now. He used to get into the gigantic bathtub at Bobby’s place when he needed time to think and try to sort through his feelings and thoughts in a room full of steam and a tub full of bubbles. But with becoming a merman whenever he touched water that option kind of… fell flat because with his 2,5 meters he was way smaller than everyone but Bobby, but also still too long for a normal tub. Bobby had taken to splashing around in the big tub in the Molina’s house and gotten Alex to clean up all the spilled water with his powers a few times already, and he himself had fallen in love with the gigantic tub at Trevor’s new house.

But Alex couldn’t really traipse around Ray’s house and then make his way over to Trevor’s at three in the morning. What would he even say? “Hey Uncle Trev, I’m having a crisis over the dude I have a really bad crush on being super powerful and also just in general, can I try to cook myself in your big bathtub for a few hours?”

Yeah, that wasn't going to work. Alex turned again, like he had been doing every five minutes for the last two hours or so, and heard someone sigh loudly. “Lexi, if you’re gonna continue agonisin’, please either do it silen’ly ‘n’ stop movin’, or talk t’us.”  
It was Bobby, and Alex squinted at the forms of his boys in the dark, all four of them still in the same bed as the first night at the Molina residence, even if Ray offered them more room and there were more beds at Uncle Trev’s new place. Closeness brought him comfort, most of the time, as it did for the others.

Luke yawned, eyelids fluttering as he struggled to stay awake, but he opened his arms and Alex squirmed his way over the mattress and tugged himself into Luke’s chest, the warmth and weight of Luke’s arms around his torso calming and familiar. He could make out Bobby’s and Reggie’s shape, also huddled together under the covers, in the pale moonlight from the almost full moon filtering through the window.

“So, what’s the issue?” Reggie asked softly after a moment of silence. Alex sighed loudly, taking a moment to sort out his words, before mumbling them into the fabric of Luke’s shirt. “I just… Willie.”

“You gay fuck,” Bobby said, and Alex could hear the quiet thud of Reggie lightly slapping his head, before Luke spoke up. “What about Willie?”

“It’s. I don’t know. He didn’t lie to me, it wasn’t a lie, he told us about their powers, but. It’s weird what they do with them, right?”

After swimming out of the caves, and getting back to the surface, Willie had turned to Alex with a guilty expression on their face. “I’m sorry, this was a bad idea,” he’d said, and just led them back home, without really saying much. “I don’t like making storms for Caleb, I don’t like sinking ships,” they’d said, as they all neared the beach again. Alex remembered the ball of terrible cold dropping into his stomach at that, and the sad look Willie had given him before they’d disappeared into the waves with a “I… I can’t say no to him. I’m sorry.”

Luke dropped a kiss into his hair, and tightened his arms around Alex. “Why do you feel that way?” he asked, voice still raspy from sleep. Alex groaned and lightly pinched Luke’s waist.

“That’s the problem. I don’t know. It’s just… Scheiße, I don’t know how to feel about it. Because he  _ said  _ he doesn’t do it because he wants to. But they still killed people, you know? And sank ships and shit.”

“Well, yeah. But it’s kind of funny that the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle is a very flashy merman with less flashy merpeople in his employ,” Reggie piped up, and they snorted in unison.

“It really is,” Luke said, grin audible in his words. “But is this some sort of dealbreaker for you? The fact that Willie is double your size in their merform, and that hasn’t put you off yet is weird enough, a little bit of strong magic shouldn’t change that.”

Bobby shuffled closer to them, still holding onto Reggie, and reached to flick his fingers against the back of Luke’s head. “Only you’d say tha’.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“That you have a type, and that’s people smaller than you.” Alex grinned when Luke let out an offended squawk and desperately scrambled to defend himself. “What? No- I. Well, okay sometimes but-”

Luke cut himself off and let out a long sigh. “I do have a type, don’t I?”

The three of them agreed in unison and Luke mumbled something in french, too quiet and too fast for Alex to understand, but he knew Luke well enough to guess it was a curse.

“Alors, back to you though, Alex. What exactly are you worried about?” Luke’s voice took a softer tone again, the one he used when Alex got anxious or Bobby got quiet or Reggie drew back and into himself. Alex gave him a small pat on the chest, to reassure him it wasn’t necessary, yet, but it still flooded him with affection.

“I don’t actually know. But Caleb was… weird I guess. And, I mean. It is kind of cool that they can make storms and stuff but also that shouldn’t be possible, you know? A teenage boy shouldn’t be able to make ships sink and to change the barometric pressure and create supercells just like that.”

“Yeah, an’ it shouldn’ be possible for four teenage boys ‘a ge’ drunk, caugh’n a storm, los’ on an island and then ge’ turned in’a mermen ‘cause of bubbly wa’er in a marine pool. And’a then have magical powers. Bu’ ‘ere we are.” Bobby was not great with emotions, never had been, and they always relied on Luke and Reggie if anyone needed a pep-talk, but his dry delivery of what were facts managed to settle some of the roiling waves that were ravaging Alex’s emotions. 

Reggie hummed in agreement. “Nothing about the four of us, or Willie, should be possible but we are here and it’s like that. If you’re genuinely uncomfortable with Willie now then we can’t do anything about it, but try to put it into perspective. They’re great, and you’re basically already planning your wedding in your head.”

“Thanks Reg,” Alex said, before the last of Reggie’s words sank in. “What the fuck do you mean I’m already planning our wedding? I don’t like them like that!”

“Sure you fucking don’,” Bobby’s sarcasm was cutting and his amumsement audible, and Alex groaned. Luke chuckled. “Sucks to suck, Lexi.”

“Okay so maybe I have a little crush on Willie.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s just little,” Reggie interjected, cackling when Alex blindly reached out for his pillow to throw it at him. Bobby grumbled something and hit back. Luke, who was usually up for a good pillow fight, stopped it before it could get going. “Okay! Not now boys, please, I’m tired and I don’t want for Ray to think we’re lunatics or something.”

“Bi’ la’e for tha’, don’ y’think?” Bobby stilled again and Alex could barely make out the shuffling as he and Reggie repositioned themselves. Reggie reached out and Alex took his hand without thinking. “I know you and Blobman are incompetent with your feelings, but you and Willie are way too fucking obviously smitten, so just talk to him and see how to go from there?”

And look at who was talking. As if Bobby and Reggie weren’t also obviously smitten. Alex sighed. He’d known it would come down to this, because it was the logical thing to do, to talk about his feelings and issues with Willie instead of wallowing in them, but that didn’t mean he liked hearing it out loud. He grumbled. “I guess I will, yeah.”

Reggie made a satisfied noise, and they all settled for a moment. A quick look at Luke’s face showed that he had his eyes closed, but his still strong grip and the small circles he rubbed into Alex’s shoulder betrayed him, so he wasn’t sleeping yet. Alex let out a long breath, trying to release the tension from his body, and he heard a similar huff from Reggie. 

But now it was silent, and while Alex knew that this meant they were all trying to get to sleep he was used to dozing off to Bobby’s and Reggie’s bickering, so it was too quiet.

“Not to be a bitch,” he started. “But Caleb really did do everything to be as over the top as possible.”

“You’re no’ bein’ a bitch, I also think so,” Bobby said. Luke snorted at that, turning his head slightly so he could look at Bobby as well. “You’re both bitches, I thought this was established.”

“Fuck off, Arschgesicht.” Alex grinned when Luke pressed another kiss to the top of his head in response. “But really, Caleb was just too extra, and I say that as the gayest merman to ever exist, apparently.”

“He introduced himself like he were the king o’the ocean, and tha’s... I’s jus’ too much, he could’a made his show more concise and his smile was way too whi’te to be natural,” Bobby agreed. Next to, and kind of on top of him, Reggie protested. “Oh, come on guys! He was a bit too upfront but very nice and I don’t think his teeth were too white. Have you seen his eyes?”

“Oui, they’re creepy,” Luke said. Bobby snorted when Reggie let out a whine. “No! They’re very pretty!”

“Ohh! Looks like Bobtart’s got competition now!” Alex singsonged, quietly but still loud enough for Luke to hear and start laughing. Bobby also heard and hissed, literally just hissed at Alex. “And you wonder why you British lot are known as gremlins.”

Bobby stopped, and Alex could only imagine the conflicted face he must have been making, because it took him a whole three seconds to answer. “Fuck you.”

“Very eloquent, 10 outta 10.” Alex delighted in the laughs Reggie and Luke let out, and then they all really settled in for the night. Alex and Luke shifted again, but when he fell asleep it was still against his best friend.

\---

They held their first official, kind of, maybe band-meeting in the studio the following day, all of them gathered and squished onto the couch and armchairs, and Alex sat on the floor with Reggie. Flynn had found a whiteboard and was furiously scribbling on it, and Carrie was staring at her the entire time. Alex reached out to lightly kick Bobby’s ankle and they shared a grin over it. Julie was tucked into her dad’s side, still not looking entirely sure about what to do, but they had played a few songs together already, and she just  _ fit _ .

They also desperately needed a rebrand. Trevor was also there, sitting in a chair, eyes fixed mostly onto Bobby, occasionally Flynn, and also Ray. 

“So,” Flynn turned around, kapping the pen with an exaggerated gesture. “If you guys want to be in a band with my Jules, we’re gonna have to think about some things. First of all: if any of you break her heart, whichever way, I’m not going to hesitate, and I will kill you, are we clear?”

“Yes ma’am,” they echoed. Carrie’s cheeks looked slightly flushed. Flynn looked satisfied.

“Good, now, I think Mr Wilson might have some better knowledge about this, so feel free to interrupt me, sir, but I did a bit of research into what you guys are gonna need. Gigs, of course, but there are enough open mic nights and venues around so you can start there. Social Media presence, which I will take care of. A practice space, which you already have. And of course a clear structure of who is who, so we don’t have conflict on stage while you perform.”

“Yeah, we got that down already,” Luke nodded. “With Julie and her incredible talent as our lead singer that would make me lead guitarist, Bobbers our rhythm guitar, Reggie’s our bass and Alex on the drums. They can do mostly back-up vocals, and so can I, but I have a few ideas of songs that would work well if split up.”

Flynn looked impressed, and Alex watched for Julie’s reaction. She blushed the tiniest bit and stared into her lap, fiddling with some of the bracelets around her wrists.

“Julie can also shred on the piano, and I can play it a bit as well, if you need me to,” Reggie added. 

“You’ll also need a good legal team, or at least a legal advisor,” Uncle Trev offered. They all turned to him. “I know a few good people, I’ll get you in contact, but I’m not letting the five of you run into things unprepared, I didn’t make that mistake for Carrie, and I’m not making it for you.”

His voice took a slight edge to it at the end, and Alex glanced at Bobby who looked at his dad with gratitude and affection written all over his face, even though he’d never admit it. Alex didn’t know exactly what had gone down in the beginning of Trevor’s music career, but he knew that he’d been fucked over by a bad agent, and that he’d been very careful since then.

“Thank you Trevor, that’s very kind,” Ray said. Trevor shrugged, pushing some of his hair out of his face. “Everything for the kids.”

Ray nodded, a slow smile spreading over his face. “You’d also need a photographer if you want good pictures for your Facebook, but luckily I know a guy.”

“Dad, nobody uses Facebook anymore!” Julie groaned, but she was grinning and gave him a side hug. Then she sobered and looked around the room, locking eyes with each of them. Alex gave her an encouraging smile. Her eyes lingered on Luke, and Alex could practically taste the anticipation in the air, as she spoke up again. 

“We still have a lot to figure out, I bet, but uh. With all of your support, I’m in.”

The studio erupted, Luke and Reggie shooting up onto their feet with triumphant yells, Flynn basically throwing herself into Julie’s arms. Ray laughed and gave his daughter and her best friend a tight hug, before letting the girls jump around. There was a slight misty look to his eyes as he watched them. Bobby also grinned, wide and showing teeth, and Alex’s joy and excitement sprang to life like a flower opening up, and he joined in as Luke finally got a hold of Julie and smothered her into a hug while beckoning for them to join. “Band hug! Band hug!” he chanted, and Alex was pulled into the little circle that was now jumping around.

“I don’t mean to disrupt the celebration,” Carrie spoke up after a minute, her posh accent drastically different to the fuckery that came out of Bobby’s mouth. They stilled, and broke apart, turning to her. She didn’t look perturbed at the glare Flynn sent in her direction. “But you still need a name for your band. Sunset Curve isn’t going to fly well anymore.”

“Oh shi’, you’ve go’ a poin’,” Bobby said. She snorted. “Of course I do, idiot, I always have a point.”

Trevor stepped between his children before they could get into an argument. “She does have a point, has anyone got any ideas? Maybe we can collect them on the whiteboard Flynn brought?”

Flynn beamed at that, and nodded. “I mean, I have an idea. It’s a little on the head but a nice little inside joke for all of us.”

A hum of excitement went through the room, Ray leaning forward with anticipation, and Alex could see that mirrored in his friends’ expressions, felt it growing in his own stomach. Flynn was aware of it, too, and she grinned. “I was thinking of Julie And The Sirens.” 

___

Bobby wasn’t looking forward to the first day of school.

For starters, it was school, and compared to the how utterly fucking wild the last few weeks had been, the monotony of being bollocked about his accent when he did speak, and his inclination for BSL over ASL when he couldn’t sounded pretty dreadful. 

It would be nice, sure, to get to spend regular time with Carrie and experience normal school things as siblings, but with every other “normal” aspect of his life now shot to shit, it didn’t seem like a particularly great trade off. Plus there was the matter of how regularly he’d be separated from everyone. He’d gotten used to at least knowing that he’d have extra-English-help with the guys, and now even that wasn’t a certainty. 

“Hey, Bee,” Reggie poked his head through the bedroom door, hair still mused from sleep, but finally looking vaguely awake. “You almost ready?” 

Bobby waved over his shoulder, not even trying to get words out past the crushing feeling in his chest.  _ hey.  _

“Ray and Uncle Trev say we should get in early so we can figure out our schedules and where our classes are before people get there.” Reggie walked in further, grabbing one of Bobby’s favourite jumpers and tugging it on. It was weird, the way Bobby’s clothes fit Reggie. Bobby was taller by an inch or two, and a touch broader, but Reggie had long arms, so it kind of just looked loose, instead of Reggie drowning in it the way they all did in Alex’s hoodies. It was still cute. Possibly cuter, but that was just Bobby’s weird, mild. likely-born-out-of-abandonment-issues possessive streak. 

Bobby held up his hand then tapped three fingers against his palm.  _ Five minutes.  _

“I’ll tell Ray you won’t be long. Want anything for breakfast?” Reggie asked, moving close to drop a kiss on Bobby’s shoulder before stepping back away. “I could ask if he’ll do pancakes?” 

Bobby snorted, not even bothering to ask if Reggie was asking for himself. He shot Reggie a thumbs up and shrugged his pyjama shirt - one of Luke’s more threadbare cut offs - off, rooting through Alex’s suitcase to find his favourite t-shirt that Alex had stolen a year ago. 

Reggie made a choked noise and there was the sound of quickly receding footsteps. 

——

“So, I’m gonna go get your schedules, you guys wait here for me, okay?” Ray reminded them again, glancing at each of them. “I’ll explain the little finicky bits, like the talking, the fibro, etcetera, and then we’ll figure out where your classes are, okay?” 

Bobby gave him an ‘ok’ symbol with one hand, grabbing Alex’s hand with the other. The school was fairly small, performing arts schools tended to be, but it was still a whole ‘nother world compared to their school in LA. 

“We’ll have most of our classes together, right?” Alex asked, for the millionth time. “I-I, I mean, Reg helps us in maths and you help us in chemistry, and we’re all shit at US-American, and this is a music school, and we’re all musicians, and, and, I mean… we might have different home rooms, and lunch periods - oh,  _ God _ , what if we have different lunch periods? And-”

“Al, I love you, but shut the fuck up,” Luke cut him off, cradling Alex’s jaw with one hand. He patted Alex’s cheek lightly. “A, even if we get split up, we’re gonna be fine, and B, we can’t have both of you spiralling, okay? Why don’t you come talk to me about it?” 

Bobby tightened his grip on Alex’s hand. Sure, listening to him catastrophize wasn’t helpful, sure, but listening to Alex ramble and panic was old hat by now. 

Alex shook his head. “No, no. I’ll stop, it’s okay. It’s just school.” He inhaled shakily. “We’ve got this, right? It’s. Performing arts schools. Musicians. We’ve got this. We just need to not touch water, and we’ll be fine.”

“We can do that,” Luke promised, cupping the back of Alex’s head so he could pull him down to kiss his forehead. “C’mon dude, we escaped from LA, got Reg and Bobble out of their shitty homes, you came out to  _ your parents,  _ and we found a family. We can totally not touch water and survive school, okay?” 

Alex nodded slowly. “Yeah, I. We can do this,” he agreed after a moment. “We can do this.”

Reggie leaned over Luke’s shoulders. “We’re Sunset Curve, remember? We can do anything.”

Julie cleared her throat. “You’re who, sorry?” 

Bobby snorted, resting his forehead on Alex’s shoulder as Reggie spluttered apologies. 

“We’re Julie and the Sirens,” he got out eventually, an interesting shade of pink. “Which is, like, totally more awesome than Sunset Curve, we’re just four queer guys who lose the function to speak when pretty guys and girls smile at us. Julie and the Sirens is four queer guys and a queer girl who lose the function to speak when pretty guys and girls smile at us. That’s so much cooler.” 

“Okay, we have Mr Mercer, Mr Peters, Mr Patterson, and Mr and Miss Wilson,” Ray announced, handing them their schedules as he did. “Reggie, I’ve got a permanent pass for you to go to the nurse, Alex, Bobby, the counsellor is aware of everything, you’ve got a similar thing for him. Luke, your teachers will be made aware of everything, okay? Remember you’re going to Trevor’s after school, I’m working til seven. Call me if you need me okay? Have a good day, mijos.”

They all said goodbye practically in unison, Bobby giving him a two fingered salute as he left. Bobby scanned his schedule, leaning over to see Alex’s after a moment.

Alex leaned a little so they could read each others’ easier, snatching Luke and Reggie’s. “You and Reg have homeroom together…. we’re all in a fucky English class… oh, me and you have the same lunch, Bee.” He looked up as Carrie and Julie handed over their schedules. “With Care, as well. Jules is with Reg and Lucy… oh, thank fuck, I’ve got maths with Reg. you and Reg and Jules have science together… Care and Jules and Lub are in the same gym class. Oh, dude, me and you have gym, too. Reej will be out of it, probably. Uh… we have three music classes, we’re together for those, all of us. I think they might be a grade-wide thing. We have a couple extra that we don’t share. Oh, wait, Bobble, you have history with Care.”

Bobby relaxed into Alex’s side, thankful that he only had to navigate a couple of classes by himself. 

Alex unfolded a map of the school. “Okay, let’s figure out where we’re going, okay?” 

——

“-so, I was thinking, we should totally design a new logo, right?” Reggie asked, swinging their hands between them. “Like, altering the Sunset Curve logo would be kinda… lame, and if we’re adjusting to Julie’s sound we should lean away a little bit from, like, the black and white with the dash of colour. Maybe purple. We all use a flag with purple, right? You and Lukey are super ace, me, you and Jules are bi, the fibro colour is purple… oh! Alex is grey-ace… that’s got purple. What do you think?” 

Bobby nodded slowly, squeezing Reggie’s hand twice. 

Reggie grinned and knocked their shoulders together, checking the rough map sketch Julie had done for them for the directions to their homeroom. “Okay, and maybe glitter? I think glitter. I love glitter.” 

Bobby raised his free hand, then lowered it, palm face down.  _ Totally.  _

“What about a glowy thing? Maybe… oh! I know! I know! We go with Julie in purple, with like a lighter, neon-y purple in the middle, and then “and the sirens” is like, in white underneath it, and it’s on a black, glittery background. That would be so cool.” 

Bobby tugged Reggie towards him slightly so he didn’t collide with a girl talking to her friends, smiling fondly when he tripped at the change in direction. 

“It seems kinda weird that we got put in fucky English,” Reggie said as they arrived at the homeroom classroom. “Like, do you think Ray and Uncle Trev requested it so we could be together? You moved here latest, and that was five years ago, and you already spoke English, like, as your first language.”

Bobby let go of his hand to make a pushing down motion with both hands, fingers spread.  _ British,  _ he reminded Reggie.

Reggie snorted. “I know, min kjæreste, but you still use loads of ‘U’s, and speaking projects and stuff in normal English classes aren’t exactly your speed.” 

He had a point. Bobby tipped his head in acknowledgement, revelling in the warmth that flooded his chest at the petname. They were a common thing amongst the four of them, but they always meant a little something more from Reggie, even if Bobby knew Reggie didn’t mean it like that. 

“Now, come on you big lug. Time to learn shit.”

——

“So, kiddos, how was your first day?” Trevor asked when they arrived at his, pouring water into seven cups. “Carlos, do you want hot chocolate or tea?” 

Carlos climbed up to sit on the breakfast bar. “It was really good, my friend in my algebra class brought in candy. Can I have coffee?” 

Trevor laughed and patted Carlos’ cheek, dropping a kiss on his forehead. “Absolutely not, kiddo. Hot chocolate or tea?” 

“Ugh, hot chocolate?” Carlos deflated, peeking into the cups. “Is Julie allowed coffee?” 

“That’s for Bobbit, trouble.” Trevor finished pouring out the water, stirring the hot chocolate and coffee. “He’s a lot older than you.” 

Carlos crossed his arms over his chest. “Bobby tripped over because Reggie smiled at him yesterday, he’s not more mature than me.” 

Bobby made a noise of disagreement, squeezing Carlos’s shoulder. 

“Exactly,” Trevor nodded, apparently picking up from Bobby’s expression what he was trying to say. “Tripping over things because pretty boys smile at you is part of being older.” 

Bobby rolled his eyes. His dad probably knew full well that hadn’t been what he’d meant. 

Instead of apologising, Trevor just handed him a mug. “There’s milk in the fridge, poppet, you can put it in since I don’t know what your friends like. I have to make a couple of phone calls, I’ll be a couple hours in my office, but if you get hungry you can cook whatever you want, and feel free to interrupt if you need me, okay?” 

Bobby gave him a thumbs up, then cradled his mug with both hands, blowing gently on his coffee even though it would do nothing. 

Trevor pulled him close and kissed his temple lightly. “Just shout me if you need me, Bobbit.” 

Carlos kicked his legs. “Do you have the Disney Channel?”

“Yeah, we’ve got the Disney channel,” Trevor said, moving so he could lift Carlos onto his hip. “I’ve got a tv in the den upstairs, how about you hang out up there? Leave all the boring older kids to their chemistry homework?” 

Carlos hummed, taking Trevor’s mug so he found hold him more easily. “Have you got Netflix? My friend at school told me to watch this thing on Netflix.”

Trevor laughed and carried him out. “Yeah, trouble, I have Netflix.” 

Bobby watched them, smiling to himself. He’d wondered sometimes - a lot of the time - how things might have turned out if he’d grown up with his dad and Carrie, and watching Trevor with Carlos, the picture was becoming a lot clearer. 

He still wouldn’t have traded what he had now for the world. He’d ended up with his dad  _ and  _ his friends, this way. 

Alex poked his shoulder a moment later. “Dude, where’s my tea?”

Bobby rolled his eyes, pointing to a large pink mug. 

“Thanks, Bibble. Want me to put milk in for everyone else? You look to be having a bit of a love affair with your coffee right now.” Alex bumped his hip against Bobby’s lightly, snorting when Bobby glared at him as his coffee almost spilt. 

“I got set some shit on polarity that I guess they started before the break for homework,” Alex turned pleading eyes on Bobby. “If you help me I’ll help with your history homework.”

Bobby offered him a thumbs up, then grabbed a teaspoon and started taking the teabags out of mugs. 

Alex watched. “Have you been feeling kinda weird today? Not in the, like, I’m full of anxiety because I’ve got spicy brain chemistry and I’m doing something out of my comfort zone, feel weird, but in the… I don’t know. Like with the champagne bubbles? That kind of weird.”

Bobby nodded, grabbing as many mugs as he could carry while Alex grabbed the rest. 

“Yeah? Wriggly and Lulu are kinda useless with describing feelings, but Lucy has definitely been more jittery than I expected, and Roger has been alternating between ice packs and hot water bottles all day, which he never does.”

Bobby frowned, leading Alex back to the living room. He’d noticed that too, and it really was unusual, especially since Reggie only ever tried hot water bottles when ice was actively making things worse, which was just about never, since heat was almost never good for him. He hummed softly, hoping Alex would take it as a hint to keep talking.

Luckily, Alex did. “It was weird, I’ve never seen him do that. I swear I’ve only seen him use a hot water bottle, like… twice. He must’ve used three just today. As many ice packs as well. He just kept getting uncomfy with them.”

Bobby set the mugs down, kissing Reggie’s hair, then Luke’s, before dragging Alex back out. He held one finger up and waved it down, then finger spelled Luke.  _ And Luke?  _

Alex shrugged. “He's just been… I don’t know how to describe it. Remember back before he started medication? And he was just always on edge and moving? He was like that again.”

——

By the time it got dark and they were back at the Molinas, Bobby felt like there was a hand around his throat and pure energy running through him. The others seemed to be in a similar state. 

“Alright, guys, I think it might be best if you just go to bed, okay?” Ray suggested, clearing away the plates from dinner. “You all seem… rough. An early night will do you a world of good.”

Reggie didn’t even try to protest. “That sounds really good.”

Bobby nodded his agreement as Alex and Luke chimed in similarly, letting Reggie pull him to his feet.

“You okay, Bobert?” Reggie asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

Bobby nodded again, leaning into Reggie, in part because the water bottle he’d been holding to his ribs for the last half hour was radiating heat that was  _ really  _ nice, and in part because it was just… comfortable to be held. 

“That’s good.” Reggie led him to the stairs, letting Bobby take a bit of his weight as he steered them. “I wish I knew why we all feel so weird though. Maybe it’s a merman thing, and we can ask Willie about it next time we see them.” 

Bobby huffed a laugh. He fingerspelled Alex, then tapped his chest, hand flat, then made peace signs with both hands and crossed them at the wrist, then pointed sideways.  _ Alex would like that.  _

“Well, duh.” Reggie nodded, eyeing the bed like was planning on throwing himself at it, then clearly thought better of it. “They’re cute, even if Allie is torn currently.” 

Bobby rolled his eyes and grabbed his pyjamas to change, motioning for Reggie to take the bathroom first. Alex and Luke joined them moments later, clearly also discussing the weird feelings they’d all been experiencing today. 

Luke sprawled out, holding his arms out until Bobby curled into his side while Reggie slipped into the bathroom. “Did you see how cute Julie looked today?” He asked, groaning pathetically.

Bobby didn’t dignify it with a response outside of raising his eyebrows.

Luke deflated, and opened his mouth to rebuke just as Reggie started singing from the bathroom.

Immediately, Bobby was entranced.

It wasn’t like Reggie’s usual singing, even though he was incredibly talented, there was something  _ more  _ to his voice now, something that weaved it’s way past the bathroom door and entangled itself in Bobby’s chest.

“Woah,” Alex breathed, eyes wide.

Bobby nodded his agreement frantically, eyes trained on the door as Reggie kept singing.

Eventually Reggie emerged, skin slightly glowing in the pale light. “Oh, hey, guys. I don’t feel weird anymore.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Luke said absently, just so focused on just sharing  _ at  _ Reggie that focusing on the smaller things, like listening to what Reggie was actually saying, was irrelevant. 

“-‘m gonna ask Willie about this,” Alex was saying when Bobby finally managed to get himself sorted. 

“About what?” Reggie asked, voice whinier and more like he was begging. It probably should’ve sounded annoying, but instead it was soft and lilting, like his singing had been, and Bobby wanted to burn the world for him. “God, does anyone else feel like singing? I just really wanna sing, maybe we could practice? Throw in a song where I sing a bit more?”

Bobby looked up at Luke helplessly as Reggie kept dancing around the room, going back and forth from haunting sea shanties that made tears well up in Bobby's eyes, all the way to rousing jigs that almost had him on his feet and dancing. 

His hands started moving of their own accord, miming the chords and strumming patterns he thought would work. Alex leaned over, head rested on Bobby’s chest, seemingly just as helpless as Bobby to tap out the beat on his stomach. “I got a text from Willie, and if I’m connecting the right dots, it might explain why Reggie has gone from freaking out every time people ask him to sing a little bit without any backing vocals to singing like his career choice is Broadway.”

Bobby watched him intently, and Luke’s hold on him loosened, then disappeared. He watched the pair of them over Bobby’s shoulder for a moment, confusion plastered across his face, and then his hands and arms moving like Bobby’s. “Go on then, Lex, what’s going on?”

Alex just held up his phone, displaying a single text from Willie. It was hard to make out with how Alex’s hands were moving, but eventually Bobby managed it.

**_Make sure the moon doesn’t see you. No reflection, no seeing it through something. If you can see the moon, you’re in danger_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated, drop us a message or an ask at [anxiousacesexplorethelitverse](https://anxiousacesexplorethelitverse.tumblr.com/%22%3E@anxiousacesexplorethelitverse!) if you have any questions about the happenings or the lore etc, we have so much we’re never gonna be able to fit in here :))


	8. Let Me Siren-ade You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie wondered, somewhere way off in the back of his mind, whether it should concern him that the weird feeling in his chest was less present as night fell. Whether feeling slightly drunk, with everything dulled and fuzzy, less bright and less intense and less too much, even if he hadn't had any drinks since that fateful night on the boat, should be worrying.   
> But it was pleasant, he felt buzzed and energy thrummed through his veins and all he wanted to do was sing. He didn’t even really care what he was singing, finding actual words to shanties and jigs that he remembered hearing once, that now felt like they were the most important songs in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello folks!  
> Welcome back to idiot gays being idiots and gays, this chapter we have: two really fucking stupid idiots being gay and two gays being gay, they just also happen to be idiots.  
> As always, anxiety and fibromyalgia and all that stuff is based on personal experiences :))  
> We hope you enjoy!!

Reggie wondered, somewhere way off in the back of his mind, whether it should concern him that the weird feeling in his chest was less present as night fell. Whether feeling slightly drunk, with everything dulled and fuzzy, less bright and less intense and less too much, even if he hadn't had any drinks since that fateful night on the boat, should be worrying. 

But it was pleasant, he felt buzzed and energy thrummed through his veins and all he wanted to do was sing. He didn’t even really care what he was singing, finding actual words to shanties and jigs that he remembered hearing once, that now felt like they were the most important songs in the world.

He began singing 'Northwest Passage' softly, a tale of the lost and the desperate search for a place in the world. Distantly he was aware of the conversation in their bedroom dying down, of the air around him settling, the house quieting to listen to his voice as he spun the tale of the desperate attempts by the Franklin Expedition. He’d done a deepdive into the misfortune of the men on the disappeared ships a year or two back, and their story had remained with him. 

Now he sang about them, the tragedy on his lips and in the air, and gripping not only at his heart but at the heart of his boys as well, he realized, when he stepped back into the bedroom, his chest lighter and his spirits lifted, despite the song.

He’d been stressed all day, worried about getting to his classes on time and about keeping track in classes and what the other students would think about them. About Bobby and Alex and their anxiety, Luke and Carrie who pretended to be less nervous than the rest of them, for no reason other than to provide some stability. 

The day had been weird. Somehow his feelings had been both heightened and dulled by something, and everything he tried was uncomfortable. He’d switched between hot water bottles and ice packs more than he really could remember, because things just… didn’t work. And Alex had not fiddled with much of anything today but seemed restless anyway, and Bobby seemed to want to crawl out of his skin by the time Ray sent them to bed. Luke had been way too jittery the whole day.

There was something going on, something in the air that made Reggie’s blood flow faster and his heart beat harder and everything weird. But with the song it seemed to… disperse. His voice rang out into the silence, and it was as if a tide was rushing in now, filling that empty space with cool and comfort, that weird energy wrapping around the words he sang and settling them into the air around him, telling the story of his song and filling his head. 

It was a tidal wave rushing in and taking that weird, weird feeling and pulling back out into the vast open sea, leaving him settled back into his skin. Or, not quite, because now he felt warm and fuzzy and the uncomfortable things were pushed away.

The three boys were sprawled out on the bed, staring at him. “Oh, hey, guys. I don’t feel weird anymore.”

Bobby and Alex kept looking at him, and even Luke’s response seemed somewhat detached from himself, but there was a new desire to sing thrumming under his skin and Reggie wanted to dance, only peripherally aware of what the others were talking about.

He launched into a rendition of Vokt Dig Vel, a norwegian shanty he’d heard one of his brothers, he couldn’t remember whether it’d been Kristopher or Martin, sing back when they still lived in Norway. It was catchy, and upbeat, and he danced around the room, grinning when Alex joined in with a beat and Luke nodded along miming chords he was making up with Reggie’s singing. Bobby joined too, a bit later than the others and Reggie couldn’t help the grin on his face from growing even wider when Bobby’s fingers began moving in the air, with Alex resting on him.

They leaned over Alex’s phone when Reggie began Bom Faderi and so he spun around, enjoying the almost physical vibrations of air around him, the waves that seemed to swing in tune with his voice.

“Hey, Reg,” Alex called out, voice tentative, and Reggie closed his mouth, regretting it immediately. He wanted to keep singing. He wanted to go swimming as well, feeling as though the water only a beach away was calling to him. It had been too long since he’d swam. Maybe the cool expanse of ocean that made him feel practically weightless would help the lingering discomfort of his shirt on his ribs. “Yeah?”

“Have you looked at the moon today?” Alex had his phone in a tight grip and Bobby had his fingers on Alex’s pale wrist, his dark eyes fixed on Reggie. “No, not yet. Do you think we should? I bet it’s really beautiful, we should go for a swim, guys.”

“No!” Luke’s voice was louder than any of them had anticipated in the suddenly quiet room. Reggie didn’t understand the urging tone of his voice. “Why not?”

“Willie said we shouldn’t.” Alex tilted his phone’s screen towards Reggie, so he could read the message. Disappointment set in, because he really wanted to see the moon, but he also trusted Willie, and his friends, and if they thought it was a bad idea he wasn’t going to disregard that.

“Can I continue singing, though?” He scrunched up his face, trying to make his eyes as big as possible, sticking out his lower lips slightly. It was a combination that had always worked on the three so far. And it did again. Bobby nodded, sitting up on the edge of the bed, his hair tousled delightfully, and Alex rolled his eyes, leaning his chin on Bobby’s shoulder from behind, his phone still in hand. Luke grabbed his own from the nightstand.

“Please do. Is it okay if I ask Julie to hang out?” he was already typing before he finished his question and Bobby snorted. 

Reggie nodded and bounded forward to drop a kiss on Luke’s forehead, simply because he felt like it. “Sure! Maybe she can sing a song with us?” 

Julie knocked on their bedroom door not ten seconds later, dressed in short pajama bottoms with dolphins on them and a very oversized shirt. She pushed Luke’s legs aside to settle on the bed, and Reggie hummed the Wellerman song under his breath, grinning and winking at Alex when Luke blushed slightly and shuffled on the bed so Julie could sit comfortably. 

“So what do you idiots need me for?” she asked, leaning her head on Luke’s shoulder. 

Alex flopped down on his side and she immediately stuck her hand in his hair, carding through it gently. “We’ve all been feeling kinda weird all day and Reggie’s started singing and Willie says we need to stay away from the moon in all forms, for some reason, and they want to come over to explain but he says it might take an hour or two so can you just hang out with us to make sure we don’t do anything stupid?”

Julie faltered in her movement for a second, eyes flitting between the four of them, Reggie the only one still standing, swaying with the melody he was still humming. “Do I need to worry?”

“Not more than usual,” Bobby mumbled, eyes still fixed on Reggie for some reason. Reggie didn’t understand why Bobby kept looking at him, a strange, open but still unreadable expression on his face. Normally he could tell what Bobby was feeling, in the way his mouth was set or how tense his jaw was, how much he avoided eye contact or how he held his hands.

But sometimes, even before everything had started to change because of the mermaid stuff, before they started to think of a future as the four of them, as the band, Reggie had caught Bobby looking at him with this expression. He’d describe it as something close to loving adoration, but he knew what that looked like, from all of them when one of them did something extremely cool, like the time Alex had learned a drum solo in an hour to hold off a panic attack, or the time Luke baked a loaf of bread so good it made Alex cry, or when Bobby had saved them from failing chemistry by subtly working on their experiments with them. 

But this look was different, and reserved for Reggie, and it made his chest warm, in a comfortable way. And it made him uncomfortable because he wanted to know what it meant, and didn’t like not knowing what Bobby thought.

Sometimes Reggie liked to think this was the same look he couldn’t keep off his face when Bobby wasn’t looking. He knew he looked absolutely smitten when Bobby was hunched over his six string and trying to decipher whatever Luke music had scribbled on the sheet of paper in front of him. Alex told him regularly. Luke told him regularly. He just didn’t believe that Bobby could look back at him the same way.

“So what are we doing until Willie gets here?” Julie asked, and Reggie broke eye contact with Bobby, to see her stretched out on the bed with her head in Luke’s lap. Reggie grinned, jumping forward. “We should sing! I love singing!”

She laughed a little and nodded, “Well, I sure hope my backup singer loves singing, you’re the only one who can properly harmonize with me in Finally Free.”

Luke didn’t even protest, too busy staring at Julie with his fingers hovering over her hair. Alex was typing away at his phone, still cuddled up with Bobby, and Bobby had finally averted his gaze from Reggie. He missed the attention a bit.

Then he began singing ‘Jolene’ and Julie shot up straight, staring at him with her mouth falling open.    
“He sounds different,” she whispered to Luke, who nodded. Reggie winked at them and pulled Alex up from the bed. They both loved this song, and Alex rolled his eyes a total of one time before singing with him. Reggie began twirling with him around the limited space they had in the room, while Julie joined in from the bed and Luke began drumming on the bed frame.

Reggie lost track of time, lost in a maelstrom of songs he didn’t even know he knew, unearthed by whatever magic was in the air tonight. Alex danced with him for a bit, then Julie. She’d sung with him too, loudly and laughed the whole time, while the boys joined in as well as they could. Luke had taken the lead in very clumsy and very spatially hindered waltz that had both of them in stitches.

Reggie deposited him back on the bed as he finished singing Drunken Sailor and stood there, just breathing for a moment. Alex and Julie lay together at the center of the bed, her head on his stomach and his feet in Bobby’s lap. “Keep going, Reg, you’ve never sounded better,” she encouraged, as lazy smile on her face when Luke flopped down next to her, making Alex groan under his weight.

Reggie remembered a song from Pirates Of The Carribean, he couldn’t even remember which movie, but the song had stuck. He began singing, 'My Jolly Sailor Bold', a lot slower than the other songs had been. He noticed it just barely, that his voice had an otherworldly quality to it now. The song was sad, about love and yearning, and Reggie’s eyes inevitably trailed back to Bobby, who perched on one side of the bed. 

His cheeks were flushed, only the slightest bit, and some of his black hair hung in his eyes, and he was entirely focused on Reggie. The soft gasp from Julie didn’t even make him blink, his eyes firmly locked with Reggies. The sea that had been lapping in his chest swelled with that look, and he sang for Bobby, and Bobby only.

Reggie noted with satisfaction, desperate, craving satisfaction for some sign of Bobby liking him back, that the other boy’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red. He smirked slightly, not even pausing after finishing the shanty, before launching into another one. 

'Oleanna', a norwegian one, again. He knew some of the history of the shanty, a parody or satire, whatever the difference was, of Ole Bull’s attempt at a perfect norwegian colony in the US, back in the 19th century. A venture, for a new home and a place to call their own in the States, that had failed quite miserably. Oleanna wasn’t as sad, necessarily, as other shanties out there. But it connected with Reggie.

For as long as he could remember he’d wanted a stable home, a place to call his own with his people - his family. Bobby felt like home. So did the others, but with Bobby it was special. Always had been. Bobby smelled like home, and when he opened his arms so Reggie could flop onto his chest it was like stepping over a threshold into a comfortable, quiet house, their space. 

'Oleanna' was a song that gave him that comfort. He moved forward, to Bobby, who gulped visibly, when Reggie pushed the strands out of his face, holding it in place with his fingers in Bobby’s hair. Bobby brought a hand up to gently rest on Reggie’s wrist but he didn’t pull away, if anything he leaned into the touch. Reggie sang of home and stared into Bobby’s eyes, searched for clues of the same in his face.

Then the words to 'A Pirate’s Lullaby' found their way onto his tongue, and he began singing that. It was a homage to the sea, a love letter written for the choppy waves and stormy skies.

Reggie sang it as a love letter to Bobby, slowly climbing into his lap as he sang, flooded with confidence he didn’t usually have, and cupping Bobby’s jaw with both of his hands. He needed to see Bobby’s eyes, needed to be sure that Bobby knew what he was doing, that he understood.

The love he felt for Bobby was like the sea. Massive, unexplored, powerful. Dangerous. A tide that rushed in at inopportune moments, whenever Bobby laughed so hard no sound came out, late at night when neither of them could sleep and so they lay in bed, their pinkies linked. A tide that swelled with each note Bobby sang and each touch he gifted Reggie. 

An ocean so big, so deep that Reggie couldn’t see the bottom, so he couldn’t even begin to fathom the extent of his feelings. All he knew was that there were a lot of them, a massive amount, that could come crashing in like a tsunami when Bobby kissed him back, or whispered affectionate insults into his ear. Massive waves that ripped away every bit of common sense Reggie fought to possess. It was overwhelming, ready to pull him under if he wasn’t careful, to drown him with the desire, the ache, to tell Bobby how much he really meant to him. Whenever he dared to kiss Bobby, or mutter ‘I love you’s’ into empty rooms after Bobby left, it felt like a desperate breath of air. Reggie feared that someday he might succumb, and drown, if he didn’t tell Bobby everything that the churning sea in his chest carried. 

He put every bit of his feelings into his singing, sending out little boats carrying the heavy cargo of his emotions on the stream of the song, hoping that they’d find their destination with Bobby. The world narrowed down to this; Bobby’s face so close to his, yet so far, a chasm of unspoken feelings between them. Bobby’s dark eyes locked with his, obsidian glinting under the pale light in their room. Reggie’s fingers gently curling around Bobby’s jaw, his thumbs on his high cheekbones. 

His song spun around the two of them, cocooning them from everything else and binding them together, Reggie hoped. He put all he had into it, every tiny emotion pulled from the depth of the sea into the melody and the words. He hoped it would be enough. Bobby had a hand on his waist, the other still on Reggie’s wrist, both of them heavy on his skin, but not uncomfortable.

It came to an end, as all things did. Reggie breathed out the last words, and then he was dried out, his throat was parched and the seemingly endless supply of shanties and jigs had run out, at least for the moment. Bobby exhaled shakily, staring up at Reggie, who held himself just a bit higher than Bobby was on the bed. All the confidence Reggie had felt running through him while singing left, and he felt a bit deflated. 

“Jesus Christ,” Alex muttered quietly next to them, voice dry. Reggie flinched at the sudden interruption of the thick quiet he’d felt settle, and Bobby’s hand tightened reflexively, holding him in place. Heat crept up his neck, and Bobby’s ears tinged red, but Reggie didn’t move away, just slumped and let his forehead fall against Bobby’s shoulder, to avoid looking at his friends, at  _ him _ . 

He wanted the buzz back, the songs itching to be sung and shared. Shuffling sounded on the mattress next to them, and Bobby ran slow small circles on the small of his back, his breathing irregular. 

Alex sighed with what sounded like relief. “Willie’s here.” 

——

The minute Willie had received the text from Alex, they’d been on high alert, everything in them itching to get to Alex - and his friends.   
What awaited him at the Molina house was still outside of anything he’d been expecting. 

Bobby, for starters, was looking at Reggie like he was a particularly precious treasure, something in his eyes reminding Willie of the way Caleb looked at shipwrecks, but the way he was holding him was worried and comforting, not possessive. 

Then there was Reggie himself, who Alex had been concerned about, folded so entirely into Bobby’s hold that it looked like he was trying to merge with him. He wasn’t currently singing, like Alex had warned, but even in the dim light of the lamp on the bedside table, he glowed in a way Willie recognised. 

Alex and Luke were sprawled out on the bed with a girl Willie didn’t recognise, but assumed to be Julie, all of them looking… well, terrified, was the only word that really came to mind. Alex was drumming a steady beat on Luke’s chest, and Julie was miming playing piano, as though they were listening to music Willie couldn’t hear.

The five of them seemed trapped by the silence, and when Willie opened his mouth to break it, something heavy weighed down on his voice box, like when Caleb demanded he stopped speaking.

Willie had been defying Caleb and the moon for years, though, so they pushed through it. “Al- is everyone okay?” 

Bobby looked up, not moving his hands from Reggie’s back to greet Willie with a fist bump like he’d done in the past. “Reg were. Um. Reg were singin’, and it were. It were differen’ ‘a how ‘e usually sings. No’ tha’ he’s no’ mega talen’ed anyway, but. I’ were…” he shook his head, eyes wide with something akin to awe. “Amazin’”

Reggie looked up a little, but he didn’t turn to look at Willie, just hovered by Bobby’s ear, presumably whispering something, then ducked back down to bury his face back in Bobby’s neck. 

“Reg says he feels like he  _ has’t’a _ sing,” Bobby relayed. “Bu’ he dun’ know how’t’a explain i’.” 

Alex cleared his throat, and Willie’s eyes snapped up to meet his. There was something about Alex that reminded him of the moon. He was dangerous - not in general, but to Willie, specifically - and Willie had a million reasons to stay away, but he kept coming back, not even to do anything, just bask in his beauty. “The rest of us have been weird as well,” he said, voice tight with nerves. “Bobbers was the worst, but we all know why that is. We kept… when the songs were jigs and dancy, we wanted to dance. When they were slower we were crying, and through all of it we kept trying to play. Bobs and Lukey were playing air guitar, but not generically. I bet if we had our instruments, we’d have been playing the songs Reg was singing.” 

“Can I hear?” Willie asked. They had a theory, but it would be… unusual. The moon affected merfolk, for sure, but asides making their pre-existing powers a little haywire, and giving Caleb an in because of how fuzzy it made their minds, it didn’t tend to provide new powers. Alex hadn’t mentioned Reggie gaining siren abilities with their initial change, but… well, Willie couldn’t think of any other options. 

Reggie shook his head, not lifting his head enough to say no. 

Bobby tilted his head down. “C’mon, Reg, you sounded amazin’” he coaxed gently. “You don’ wanna sing for me again?” 

Alex leaned over to Willie with a conspiratorial grin, even if it was strained. “There’s just about nothing Beebob can’t get Reg to do. Even if he doesn’t really understand it, because he’s fucking stupid, he knows it,” he whispered as Bobby kept murmuring assurances. 

Reggie looked up enough for Bobby to kiss his cheek. “You don’t think it was weird?” He asked quietly. Even though he wasn’t singing, Willie could hear how affected his voice was. 

“Weird?” Bobby echoed, brushing his thumb across Reggie’s cheekbone. “Swee’hear’, y’sounded incredible, why would I think i’ were weird?” 

Willie exchanged glances with Alex, edging his hand forward in a silent offer. “How long have they been together?” He asked as quietly as he could get his voice to go, still unused to modifying his volume to suit the way sound travelled through air. 

Alex blinked up at him. He reminded Willie of a dolphin calf, like that, even if Willie was having to look up at him. “Oh, they’re not.” 

Willie opened their mouth to respond, then closed it again, glancing back and forth between Alex and Reggie, who’s cheeks were now flushed, a small, pleased smile breaking out. He wasn’t Willie’s type, but they could definitely see the appeal. “I’m. What?” 

“Yeah.” Alex nodded slowly, looking vaguely distressed. “We don’t. We don’t really know. Lukey and me genuinely thought they were together for a bit? And then Julie or Flynn asked, and… yeah. Turns out they’re just really fucking stupid.” 

“Wow,” Willie said, searching for something vaguely more eloquent to say. “So… um. I wanted to apologise, again, about Caleb. I promise I was gonna tell you, I just. I hate it so much, and if  _ I  _ hate it I couldn’t even imagine how much  _ you  _ would hate it, and I didn’t want to scare you off.” 

Alex’s eyes widened and a faint flush crawled up his cheeks. “Oh. Um. That’s… that’s okay,” he said quietly, taking Willie’s hand carefully. “I get it. You can’t say no to Caleb. I’m not gonna hold that against you.” 

Julie gasped, and Willie looked up just in time to see Reggie lean forward and kiss Bobby properly, nothing more than a light press of lips, but still definitely a kiss. “But… I’m. Am I missing some human custom? Because where I’m from that’s definitely a romantic thing.”

“Oh, it usually is for us, too,” Alex assured him. “Some people do kiss platonically, but, there’s nothing platonic about those two. As I have already said, and will  _ undoubtedly  _ say a million more times tonight, they’re just really fucking stupid.”

“Ah.” Willie watched for a moment as Reggie cradled Bobby’s face, then decided it was too much. “Okay. Uh, Reggie? Do you mind singing for us a little bit?” 

Reggie looked up as they spoke, then glanced back to Bobby, who nodded and smiled encouragingly. “What do you want me to sing?” 

Willie shrugged. “What about Trøllabundin? D’you know that one?”

Reggie’s eyes lit up, shining inhumanely like shark’s eyes. “Yeah, I know that one.” He climbed out of Bobby’s lap and turned around properly, then poked Bobby’s leg until he’d spread them for Reggie to lay back against his chest. He hummed to himself for a moment, then launched into the song. Within the first couple of words, Bobby’s eyes were fixed on him. Willie tried to turn to point it out to Alex, but found themself physically unable to look away. By the end of the first verse, Alex was tapping a slow and solemn drum beat on their thigh, Luke was miming a violin, and both Bobby and Julie were playing the piano. 

“That’s…” Willie trailed off momentarily, trying to gather the words together. “That’s not a normal moon thing. Usually… your powers heighten, and your thinking gets really weird. I expected pipes to be exploding, not… this.” 

“Thanks for making this seem so run of the mill,” Alex hissed, squeezing Willie’s hand. “Now I feel so calm.”

“Hey, hey,” Willie soothed. “It’s okay. We just need to. Um. We need to get him to the moon pool tomorrow. Not now, you guys would be… I don’t even wanna know.” 

Alex tugged on his hand. “What do you mean “I don’t even wanna know”? What are the possibilities?”

Reggie finished his song and let Bobby tilt his head up for a kiss, and Willie took the reprieve to look at Alex, raising Alex’s hands until he could kiss his knuckles. “Alex, I’ve never seen this before. I’m gonna help as much as I can, but this is scary, and it’s gonna keep being scary, and I need you to be really brave, okay?”

Alex breathed out shakily and nodded. “Yeah, okay. We’re gonna be fine.”

“I still think we should go for a swim,” Reggie said distantly, playing with Bobby’s fingers. “Don’t you wanna go swimming with me, skatten min? Just us, and the  _ water _ . And the moon, obviously… herregud, the moon must be  _ brilliant _ right now.”

Willie snapped his head up. “Absolutely not.”

Reggie whined and shifted until he was laid out on his front, chin resting on his hands, looking up at Willie through his lashes. “Aw, vær så snill? I just wanna show Bobby the moon. You like the moon, don’t you?”

Willie laughed despite himself, reaching out to brush Reggie’s hair out of his eyes. “Yeah, little fry, I like the moon. It’s dangerous, tonight, though.”

Luke offered his hand to Reggie. “Hey, mon chou-fleur, you wanna show Willie one of our songs?”   
Reggie took Luke’s hand and held it up to his face, inspecting the calluses and veins. “Which one?” He asked, definitely a little sulky. “Will you sing with me? None of you are singing with me.”

“Yeah, we’ll sing with you, Reg,” Julie promised. “And you can choose the songs. What about one of the ones you sing in more?”

Reggie thought about it for a minute. “Can we do the one you finished the other day? The version of in your starlight that's been edited for Julie?”

“Course we can, bud. You wanna start us off? Take my part?” Julie offered, shuffling forward until she could rub soothing circles on Reggie’s back. “I just know you’d kill the high parts.”

Reggie nodded and hummed the first couple of bars, then started singing. It was more miles more upbeat than the song from earlier, and Willie could see in the way Bobby and Julie swayed, in the way Alex jogged his leg, in the way Luke bobbed his head, that the others felt the same strange urge to dance. It wasn’t like listening to dance music, but it wasn’t like being  _ ordered  _ to dance by Caleb either. It was like, maybe - Willie didn’t have an actual example to compare it to - something similar to what Willie imagined it would be like if Alex asked him to dance. There was something undeniably compelling about it, but while it wasn’t something that could be ignored, or siphoned off through jogging his leg, it wasn’t bone deep and painful, either. It was pleasant, almost.

When the others joined in, it was interesting how their voices paled in comparison. Willie could tell, objectively, that Reggie wasn’t necessarily a more talented singer than Julie or Alex or Luke or Bobby, it was just that all of a sudden, Willie didn’t care so much.

\----

By the time the sun rose, Willie was somewhere between exhaustion and exhilaration. Every time Reggie stopped singing Willie sagged against Alex and checked his watch, but every time Reggie picked up again, energy flooded through them. 

As soon as Alex got a notification to his phone that the moon had set, Willie was ushering them out of the house. “C’mon, guys, let’s get moving, please.”

Julie stopped short. “I can’t swim with you guys - I’ll keep my dad off your back, okay?”

Reggie pouted at first, but was easily consumed by the thought of swimming when WIllie told him of their destination. 

Once they hit the water, Willie was reminded of just how little Alex - who on land had easily surrounded Willie with his broad shoulders and solid chest - was compared to his merform. They treaded water for a minute, letting Alex swim a circle around their arm before following Reggie and Bobby, who’d immediately shot off in the direction of the Island. 

“So what do we do now?” Luke asked, heaving himself onto a rock. 

“We wait?” Willie suggested, glancing around the cavern before deciding they probably wouldn’t fit on anything. 

Alex dived out of the water and jumped up until he was sat on Willie’s shoulder. “We wait?” he echoed, panic seeping into his voice. 

“Didn’t i tell you the water would be amazing?” Reggie asked, and though his voice was projected to all of them, his gaze was trained on Bobby, who was floating on his back, eyes closed. 

Bobby snapped to attention, still miles more affected by Reggie’s voice than the rest of them. “Yeah”, he agreed, swimming towards Reggie. “It’s great.”

Willie stared up at the volcano opening. “The moon pool is a powerful place,” he told Alex. “It should be able to reverse this, if we give it time.”

\----

The moon pool didn’t seem to be able to reverse it, at least not in its entirety. 

They stayed in the pool for hours, hoping Julie would cover for them for school and with Ray and Trevor, and although Reggie reported a decrease in the deep seated  _ need _ to sing, and he began to speak without such a commanding yet airy quality, he still seemed to sing with it. 

Or, well, he at least sang with it when he was singing to Bobby, no matter whether he was going with a lilting celtic lullaby or a harsher rock song, his voice was absolutely entrancing, for both the rest of them  _ and _ Bobby. When the skies started to darken again, Willie called time. 

“I think this is as good as we’re gonna get,” they admitted slowly.

Alex sighed. “I thought you might say that,” he said. “I… do you think he’ll be like that forever?”

Willie shrugged, resisting the urge to reach out for Alex. Sure, it felt like Willie had known him for centuries, but they didn’t know each other enough to automatically move to fit each other, and with their current size difference, he could seriously injure Alex. “As long as you’re mermen, at least,” he wagered. “Would it be so bad if that was forever?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated, drop us a message or an ask at [anxiousacesexplorethelitverse](https://anxiousacesexplorethelitverse.tumblr.com/%22%3E@anxiousacesexplorethelitverse!) if you have any questions about the happenings or the lore etc, we have so much we’re never gonna be able to fit in here :))


	9. You’ve Been Hit By, You’ve Been Struck By, Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie hadn’t really had much time to consider what on god’s green earth had possessed her to get attached to four mildly concerning and violently chaotic teenage boys, what with all the getting her dad to practically adopt them, and figuring out their powers, and singing again, and forming a band with the help of Trevor fucking Wilson. Most of the time she didn’t have to, because they and their mindless banter and almost aggressive love and support provided sufficient distraction, only that they weren’t here now, and she could spend the whole day staring at the glowy stars on her ceiling to question her life choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi kiddliwinks!  
> I’m v sorry this is late I (meg) ran out of meds like a week ago, and couldn’t get any for a week, and basically haven’t been functioning since like Saturday, so v soz abt that, but we back. (It’s also why road work hasn’t been updated this week, if you happen to follow that). But, back to our regularly scheduled viewing; we have some gays being gay being gay, we hope you enjoy

Julie hadn’t really had much time to consider what on god’s green earth had possessed her to get attached to four mildly concerning and violently chaotic teenage boys, what with all the getting her dad to practically adopt them, and figuring out their powers, and singing again, and forming a band with the help of Trevor fucking Wilson. Most of the time she didn’t have to, because they and their mindless banter and almost aggressive love and support provided sufficient distraction, only that they weren’t here now, and she could spend the whole day staring at the glowy stars on her ceiling to question her life choices.

The evening, and the whole night, really, had been interesting, to say the least. She’d expected the boys to have broken something when Luke had texted her, not to find Reggie glowing as if lit by the full moon, and singing with a gorgeous but hypnotic voice. She also hadn’t expected for Reggie to straddle Bobby, and kiss him later, or to meet the infamous Willie, whom Alex had talked about a  _ lot _ . 

Not that she didn’t understand him now, Willie was objectively very attractive, but they’d also only had eyes for Alex, so that Julie had only admired how shiny his hair was. Julie had also not expected to basically pull an all-nighter, kept up by Reggie’s singing like a limp marionette by strings, and then stayed behind because she wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, for one. She also knew they’d need someone to cover for them, so her dad and Trevor didn’t go crazy with worry. 

Which hadn’t really worked out all that well, since Julie had explained what had happened to her dad before breakfast. He’d been confused but helpful, and called the school to tell them all of the boys as well as her would be missing the day, due to a family emergency. Then he’d called Trevor, who’d shown up twenty minutes later, looking disheveled, and sending a disgruntled Carrie to school.

“Get some sleep, mija,” Ray had told her at ten am, when the boys still hadn’t returned, and Julie had managed five hours, before staring at her ceiling for 30 minutes. Worry boiled somewhere in her stomach, since dad hadn’t woken her to say the boys were back. She’d gotten attached to them, way too fast and way too hard, and now her chest felt a little tight and she itched to play the piano like she used to do before… before her mom died. She could play again, and she liked to do it, but still, going into the studio all on her own without at least one of the boys or Flynn seemed daunting, and so she just stayed right where she was, in her bed, waiting for something to happen.

Another ten minutes later she got restless, and finally crawled out of bed, slowly changing into a light dress and brushing her hair. One thing at a time, as Dr Turner always said, for when she didn’t know how to go on or where to look first. Her dad and Trevor were sitting at the kitchen table, leaning over a photo album together. 

“Were you able to get some sleep?” Ray asked when he heard her footsteps. Both men turned to look at her, and Julie felt a sudden pang of longing for a second parent in the house. She nodded, and both of them smiled at her. “That’s good, mija, that’s good. Do you have any news from the boys?”

She shook her head and then peered into the fridge, grabbing a yoghurt before letting herself fall into a chair across from then. “What are you looking at?”

“Baby pictures of you and Carlos,” Ray slid the album over to her. There she was, tiny, already sitting at the piano with her mom. Carlos was there too, dressed up as a miniature Luke Skywalker and wielding a lightsaber that was way too big for him, mom laughing in the background.

“Your mother seems like a lovely person,” Trevor said quietly, and offered her his hand. She hesitated for a moment, after all she still didn’t really know this man, but the smile he gave her was quiet and compassionate, and her dad seemed to trust him enough to show him the photos, so she took it. “She really was.”

Trevor gave her hand a light squeeze, and Julie looked at her dad, who was already watching her with a bittersweet look on his face. He looked at his watch when she caught him and cleared his throat. “Flynn and Carrie should get here soon, I asked them to drive Carrie here, and you know Flynn.”

“She demanded to stay here, too,” Julie nodded. Ray sighed and grinned. “Well, at least I’ll be able to catch up on homework then.”

As if on cue, the front door burst open, and Flynn strolled in, looking vaguely annoyed, with Carlos bouncing into the kitchen excitedly and Carrie trailing behind, who looked both disgruntled and slightly pink.

“Jules! I missed you so much today! Can you believe how boring the whole school is without you?” they threw their arms around Julie’s shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Hi Ray, hey Mr Wilson.”

Both men greeted her with obvious amusement, and Carrie stepped into the kitchen almost looking hesitant. Trevor squeezed Julie’s eyes again and got up to hug her. “Hey baby, how was your day?”

“It was okay, I met a really cool guy who’s also into physics. Are the idiots back yet?” she hugged back, then separated herself from her father and brushed her hair out of her face. “Are you talking about Nick? And no, they’re still not back,” Julie said. 

Carrie nodded and her face fell slightly, but she pressed her lips together and sat down next to where Trevor’s now empty chair was. “I uh- I brought all the homework and stuff from the classes Flynn isn’t also in, if you and the guys want them later.”

“Thanks Carrie, you’re a gem,” Ray said, and she avoided looking at him. Julie shared a look with Flynn. Apparently it was a Wilson’s Thing, and not just a Bobby Thing, to be unable to receive affection.

Time passed in bursts of speed and dragging minutes, in which Julie tried her hardest to focus on the schoolwork, and Flynn staring at Carrie because she ‘didn’t trust her’, and watching Ray and Trevor get increasingly nervous with time ticking past, pacing and moving into other rooms to have quiet conversations. Not that Julie was doing any better. Her knee was bouncing, and her fingers burned for her piano, and watching Carrie gnaw on her bottom lip and staring at her phone with burning intensity did not really help. Flynn was doing her best, chattering about everything they could think of, but the uneasiness still didn’t go away. 

As the sun began sinking Trevor stepped back into the kitchen, and clapped his hands together. “Alright, kiddos, I’m going to make dinner, so out of the kitchen you go.”

“Dad doesn’t like having anyone in the kitchen,” Carrie informed them quietly as they shuffled out, and then she just awkwardly trailed behind Julie and Flynn to the studio. Julie sat down on the piano bench and then stared at the keys, unsure whether she should just go for it. With only Flynn in the room that wouldn’t have been a question, but she didn’t know Carrie yet, and apart from being Bobby’s sister she didn’t have all that much going for her.

“I- I can leave if you want,” she offered, after five minutes of awkward silence. Julie immediately felt kind of bad, and jumped up. “No! No, you can stay, if you want, I’m just. Playing feels weird, you know?”

Carrie looked at her for a long moment, still only half sitting from moving to get up. Then she nodded. “Yeah, I. I get that. When we moved here I had to leave my band behind, and it feels really weird to even attempt to sing without them.”

“You were in a band?” Flynn asked, looking extremely interested in Carrie for the first time. Carrie nodded. “Yeah, Dirty Candi. We put a lot of effort into choregraphies, you know? And colour assignments and such, hold on, I have pictures.”

She pulled out her phone, and Julie scrambled up to look over her shoulder. It was… quite a lot. They really had gone all out on outfits, and the songs were pretty much bubblegum pop, from what Julie could garner from the clips. “Must be nice to have all that money to spend on costumes and choreographers,” Flynn said.

Carrie’s demeanor shifted all of a sudden, and she shut her phone off and tensed up. “I mean, yeah, I guess. Wouldn’t you use it if you could? And anyway, I can’t really do much right now, being in fucking Miami and all.”

Julie shot Flynn a look and a raised eyebrow, and Flynn looked slightly guilty. “Why did you leave then?” their tone wasn’t as kind as it could be, as Julie knew it, but she also Flynn enough to know that they didn’t really trust Carrie yet. “Because my wanker of a brother has gotten a lot less out of life with dad than I have, and I want to be here for him.” 

Carrie looked almost physically pained as she said it, and stared straight down at her lap, leaving Julie and Flynn in a somewhat stunned silence. Then noises filtered in from outside, multiple voices, all bleeding into each other. The three of them were out of the studio in an instant, to find the boys, and Willie, finally back, with the sun almost entirely set and the few visible stars in the sky.

They looked exhausted, most of all Reggie, who was leaning against Bobby who had an arm around his waist. Luke was holding Reggie’s hand and Willie and Alex trailed behind them, a few of their fingers also linked, looking worried. “You’re back!” Julie couldn’t keep the relief out of her voice, and took the weak smiles as a sign that they were too.

“We have to talk,” Willie said, stepping forward slightly.

___

Julie leaned into Luke’s side almost unconsciously, the dip of the couch helping out, and he immediately brought an arm up and around her shoulder. He was tired, less energetic than she’d ever seen him, and simultaneously more tense as well. They all were. 

Despite the urgency in Willie’s eyes, Ray and Trevor had insisted on dinner for all of them before anything was talked about, and none of them really had had the strength to argue against it. Julie found herself admiring Willie’s attitude, because they’d not only been fairly calm facing five new people all at once, but also managed to keep more calm than Alex did, who was fidgeting so much it was hard to look at him without getting nervous herself.

All of them, minus Carlos who Ray had put to bed ten minutes ago, were now gathered in Julie’s living room, waiting for Willie to explain. Julie found herself squished into Luke’s side, with Flynn and Carrie next to her. Bobby and Reggie had settled in the loveseat, Reggie looking half asleep with his head on Bobby’s shoulder and their hands linked. Bobby occasionally kissed Reggie’s hair. It was almost too tender to look at, then, and painful in a way that wasn’t longing for something similar but genuine wonder on how these two were still not together. 

Ray had offered the other armchair to Alex, but the other boy was sat cross legged on the floor, his back against the couch next to Luke, so Ray sat in the armchair with Trevor perching on it’s armrest. Willie was shuffling on his feet, looking uncomfortable and guilty, and an array of other things Julie couldn’t place yet.

“So, uhm,” they started, looking up from the floor and flitting over all of them, before settling on Alex. “So, I have a theory, but I need to know something first. When- when Caleb sent me away for a few minutes, did he at any point touch you guys?”

Luke made a confused sound next to her and Julie pressed closer into his side, whether for her sake or for his she wasn’t sure. “Yeah, he shook our hands,” Alex said quietly. Willie’s mouth pressed into a thin line and his face hardened. “Fuck.”

“No swearing, kid,” Ray warned, and Julie couldn’t suppress the eyeroll. She heard her dad curse every single day when he was looking for something. Willie brushed some of their hair behind their ears, and crossed their arms, thumb digging into a spot below their left elbow. 

“I’m sorry Mr Molina, but I kind of hoped that he didn’t touch you, because this… This just makes things worse.”

“How does this make things worse?” Reggie asked quietly. Willie sighed, and began pacing. “Okay, so, the full moon affects us merfolk, it always has, but it’s usually… not this intense. We see an increase in our power and become a bit loopy, and stare at the moon the entire night, but that’s about it. I guessed that it might be a bit more intense than that for you guys, because you’re not used to it from the start, so I wanted to keep you away from the moon, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“This is what, exactly?” Carrie asked, leaning forward and clutching her hands tightly in her lap. Julie remembered that she probably hadn’t really been filled in on what had happened last night. “Uhm, Regbert started singing, a lot, and not like he usually does. It was more like he put a spell on us with it, we just had to listen and go with it, we couldn’t do anything else,” Bobby explained. 

“Reggie suddenly showed powers that usually only appear in sirens,” Willie said. “And those powers aren’t really something we see in normal merfolk, they’re either gained by being at least partly siren or with powerful magic.”

“Hold on, so sirens are a thing that actually exist?” Flynn cut in, staring at Willie with an open mouth. “Like, they actually sing sailors to their death to eat them?”   
Willie pulled a slight grimace and shook his head. “Not really, not anymore at least. They’re fairly similar to normal merfolk, but their voices and singing have magical properties that work kind of like a mentalist putting someone in a trance. When a siren sings you can’t do anything but listen and go along with it, until you have something different, really, really important to focus on.”

“And normal merpeople don’t have that?” Trevor asked, looking over at Bobby and Reggie, who were staring at Willie with a mixture of horror and fascination painted on their faces. He shook his head again. “Not usually, no, as I said, getting these powers without being siren is not something that usually happens. But…” they trailed off, and sighed.

“But?” Alex prompted with a soft voice, and suddenly he seemed to be the anchor that Willie had been for him barely half an hour ago. “But Caleb is powerful enough to manipulate other merfolks’ powers. And if he touched you, he stamped you.”

Willie’s voice quivered slightly, and there was a fear woven tightly into their words. It made Julie afraid, too. “What do you mean he stamped us?” Luke asked.

“It means he put a magical spell on you, one that fucks with your powers and intensifies the effects on the full moon, and I don’t know what’s gonna happen with you, Alex, or Luke or Bobby, because only Reggie seemed affected, but I know Caleb, and he’s not gonna stop with just him. He probably wants you to join his stupid Club, and since you didn’t freely agree he’s going to make you come to him, begging for him to remove the stamps, because dealing with whatever effects they’re going to have is too much.”

“And you just… lead them to this Caleb? Knowing what he’s capable of?” Carrie’s tone was sharp, and cold, and Julie recognized it. It was the same tone she used when some kid in his class was rude to Carlos when she picked him up, and the same tone she’d used for Flynn when a guy in class had decided to mock their outfit. It was the tone with which she protected her siblings. 

“I can’t stop him!” Willie shot back, force and desperation strong behind his words, a wet shine to his eyes. “He can… he has control over me. What he wants from me, I have to do. I just wanted to help.”

They faltered in on themself, wiping at their eyes angrily with the sleeve of their shirt. Alex shot up. “Hey, hey Willie, it’s okay.”

He tried to reach for Willie’s hand, but Willie flinched back. “It’s not, though, Alex! Carrie’s right. I know what he’s capable of, and all I thought about was maybe being able to help you, and not what he would do, and now you’re facing something I don’t know how to help you with!” 

Alex reached for Willie’s hand again, caught it this time, and laced their fingers together. “It’s not a good situation, I’ll admit. A pretty shitty one, actually, but you didn’t intend for it to happen, and you’re trying to help us now, so that counts for something. Please don’t put all of the blame on yourself, Perle, you didn’t make Caleb into a stereotypical cartoon villain.”

Then Alex flushed. Julie guessed it was because of the german word he’d clearly thrown in there, that Luke and the other two boys seemed to understand, judging by the looks they shared. “Yeah, Alex’s right,” Reggie mumbled. “You didn’t wan’ for this to happen so it sucks but it is what it is. And singing like a siren is actually kinda cool.”

A chorus of “Reggie, no.” echoed through the room, but he gave Julie specifically a sleepy wink. “Apart from the siren bit, I agree,” Luke said, and reached out to give Willie a light pat on the arm. “But what now?”

“We’re going to have to monitor you guys,” Flynn said.   
“We’ll keep a close eye on you idiots,” Carrie said at the same time. Bobby snickered quietly. 

“Yeah, uh. We’ll keep a close eye on you boys, and when things change we’ll see how to deal with that, and we’ll try to find a way to get rid of those stamps.” Trevor nodded, glancing between Carrie and Flynn. 

Ray nodded as well and showed his trademark reassuring smile, that Julie loved in her dad. “Nothing the Molina’s can’t handle.”

___

“Hey, Luke?” Julie leaned in the doorway to the living room, waiting for him to react. Trevor had left a good ten minutes ago, with both his kids in tow, and Reggie as well, since he hadn’t been willing to let go of Bobby. Flynn had joined them, because Trevor had offered to drive her home, and Flynn didn’t like driving in the dark. Alex and Willie had left together, although Julie wasn’t too sure where they’d gone. Maybe the beach, Alex seemed to like it a lot, and from the looks of it, everything that Alex liked, Willie liked, and vice versa. Her dad was checking up on Carlos, who’d without a doubt taken this night’s impromptu meeting as a chance to not actually sleep.

Luke was left, still sitting on the couch, fiddling around with his phone. Julie made a mental note to dig around for the few fidget toys she’d begged to have back when they’d been a trend. He looked up at the sound of her voice, and smiled. It was a smaller smile than the one he usually gave, a quieter one. Julie didn’t mind it. “Yeah?”

“Do you want to hang out in the studio for a bit?” she made to shove her hands into her pockets, before remembering her dress didn’t have any, so now they just dangled at her side awkwardly. Luke looked confused. “Isn’t it a bit late to make music?”

“Not to make music, idiot, I just feel more relaxed in there and you’re still not allowed in my bedroom,” she said, and held out her hand, raising her brows. Luke’s smile broadened, then, and he jumped off the couch to join her. She linked their hands and didn’t think about how much bigger his hands were than hers, and how she could feel the calluses on his fingers from years of playing guitar. 

Julie felt calmer, more herself, the second she stepped into the studio, like she often did, and with Luke at her side that feeling just intensified. He grinned and bumped their shoulders together. “So now what?”

Julie just pulled him to the sofa, and, instead of asking, just stood in front of it, until Luke realized. “You coulda just asked, if you wanted the patented Luke Patterson Cuddles, you know?”

“I’ll tell the guys you said that, and then we’ll see just how patented they are,” she said, and Luke snorted. He dropped her hand and let himself fall onto the couch, opening his arms. She hesitated only for a second, before accepting the invitation she’d kind of forced him into, snuggling into his side again. She felt Luke pick up a few curls of her hair and play around with them and rested her head on his shoulder. He smelled of the ocean.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Luke asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Julie looked up at him, her cheek still pressed against the bare skin of his shoulder. “Who says I want to talk?”

“Oh, please, Molina. As if you drag every pretty boy out here, where your dad doesn’t enter uninvited, just to cuddle,” he sounded way too pleased with himself, and shook her head with disbelief at his cockiness. “I bring the pretty girls out here too, just so you know, so stop being insufferable.”

Luke laughed quietly, and tightened his hug around her, not in a way that felt restraining. It was reassuring, the way the warm shallows had felt, when she still went surfing. The way her mom had hugged her. Julie sighed. “I still haven’t gone surfing again,” she confessed.

“Huh?”

“I still haven’t gone surfing again, since mom died. I can sing again, thanks to you guys, and the music is back for me, but we used to go surfing together, and now I can’t anymore because it just reminds me too much of her.” 

She hadn’t actually shared this with anyone, apart from Flynn, even though Julie suspected that her dad knew, or at least had suspicions. Luke hummed under his breath. “Do you want to go surfing again?”

She nodded against his shoulder, and felt a weight on top of her head, that felt as if he was resting his chin there. She also didn’t mind that. “Would you want to try with us? I bet we can find a spot where nobody else goes, so it’s not an issue, and then you wouldn’t be alone.”

Julie considered this for a moment. Luke’s voice was soft and warm, and soaked into her like the sun did in the early mornings, when it wasn’t too hot yet. “I’d like that.”

Luke nodded, and began humming a tune that Julie recognized as ‘Bright’, one of the songs they’d already worked on together. She joined in, and could hear the smile in the shift of his voice. They got through a few songs, some they were working on for Julie And The Sirens, which still thrilled Julie down to her core. Finally playing music again, and writing again, and getting to share that with the guys was amazing. 

It was the call she’d been searching for, for over a year. It was like finding the bird who’s melody she’d been following to the source, the music of the ocean captured in a conch, the crash of the waves on a pebbled beach. Julie couldn’t bear the thought of losing it again.

“Hey, Luke?”   
He hummed an affirmation that he was listening.   
“Why… why didn’t you join Caleb? He gives all of you a great opportunity, and a chance to live a life where you don’t have to constantly be on edge and worried about water. Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Julie looked up at Luke again, studied his floppy brown hair, and his long lashes, and waited for a response. Luke shifted a bit, so he could look at her, and he smiled that quiet smile again. “That’s because what we have here is pretty much unbeatable.”

___

After the clusterfuck of the night - and day - before, Bobby’s head was still spinning, which he thought was pretty understandable. 

Firstly, he was still processing the mess with Caleb, even without the additional bomb Willie had dropped on them all earlier. Caleb’s entire existence went against everything Bobby knew about… well, everything, even more than the whole merman business did already. He’d been too happy to see them, too slick, and every single guy his mum had brought over ever had helped to instil in him to lesson that men who seemed too good to be true  _ were  _ too good to be true, and Caleb absolutely did.

So did Ray, but Ray still smiled sadly when he thought they weren’t looking, and he still gave them real-adult rules and was stern when they were stupid, and he wasn’t perfect, even if he was amazing.

Caleb, on the other hand, was way too perfect.

It was something about how cold he’d been with Willie and some of the dancers, but how quickly he’d become warm and welcoming when he was talking to guests, and he knew just a little too much about how to make his club seem enticing specifically to the four of them.

Then, obviously, there was the whole clusterfuck of his dad living a ten minute drive away, and giving Bobby a house key, and his sister going to school with him. It was amazing, to be able to see them as and when he wanted, and to have a space that wasn’t crowded with six or more other people that he could escape to, and to get to have a normal siblingly relationship with Carrie, but it was also a huge change from what he was used to, and it was certainly taking some getting used to. 

Them, of course, there was the whole Reggie situation. 

Bobby still wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about that one.

On the one hand, Reggie had fucking kissed him. Or maybe he’d kissed Reggie - his memories of the night before were blurry to say the least, and he’d spent hours thinking over whether or not he’d been the instigator - had he gone too far? Did Reggie even remember it? Had Bobby totally taken advantage of him? - but the main point was that Reggie  _ kept  _ kissing him, kept singing at him in that weird voice that made everything else fade away, even more so than it already did when Regie sang, kept flashing him glances that probably meant way less than Bobby wanted them to, and he was just… confused. 

Alex had always said that Reggie was the best communicator of the four of them, and considering that he and Bobby bonded by reading each other to filth because the raw affection Luke and Reggie dealt in burnt a little, sometimes, and brutal honesty was a more comfortable way to remind themselves that they  _ knew  _ each other and had stuck around anyways, and that Luke wrote songs that he kept hidden until he felt the contents of them no longer posed any threat to himself, Alex was probably onto something with that. With that in mind, Bobby had to remind himself that Reggie was good at asking for what he wanted, and better at recognising when what he wanted was something Bobby wanted too but couldn’t ask for, which really posed the question - if the kiss, if the  _ kisses _ , had meant anything like what Bobby wanted them to mean, why hadn’t Reggie said something?

Before he could spiral too much on that one, Carrie threw his door open. He’d decided to crash for the night at his dad’s to give Alex some extra space around his not-boyfriend, and to let Julie and Luke stare longingly at each other, and because Reggie was still coming down from the high that the moon apparently caused, and needed the space for his chest to hurt without three boys sharing his bed, so he’d taken the other room Ray had offered, and Bobby had decided it was the best chance he’d get to parse his thoughts out without offending anyone.

“I made a friend,” she declared, sitting cross legged at the foot of his bed.

Bobby looked up from his phone. “Uh. Congra’s?” 

“You’re such a dick,” Carrie complained, grabbing a pillow from the floor to hit him with until he put his phone down. “C’mon, I wanna talk about it.” 

He groaned and put it down. “Okay, hi’ me.”

She grinned and laid down on her front, propping her chin on her hands. “So, his name is Nick, and he likes atomic and particle physics, and we got paired together for a project in our “physical science” class,” she said, pulling a face at physical science. “It’s on the Pauli Exclusion Principle, so we got to talking about the Chandrasekhar limit, and space, and he’s so smart.” 

“Uh.” Bobby scrubbed a hand over his face. “Firs’ly, good f’you, he sounds awesome. Secondly, wha’the fuck is all tha’?” 

She rolled her eyes. “Remember what an electron is?” 

“I know wha’ a bloody electron is,” he muttered, rolling onto his back next to her. 

She shoved his shoulder gently. “Okay, so the Pauli exclusion principle states that no two electrons - well, all fermions, so leptons and quarks - in the same atom can be in the same state. Basically, that just means you can only have two or less electrons in an orbital, and they have to have opposite spin.”

He nodded slowly. “And spin is?” 

Carrie shrugged. “Just… spin? I don’t know, this is just A-Level physics.”

“No’ doin’ A-Levels,” he reminded her, punching her arm. “I’s fuckin’... fuckin’ senior year physical science.”

“And if you weren’t such a fuck up I would still be fine, doing my A-Levels and going to Cambridge.” She shifted so she was laying on her side. “At least I’ve got Nick, now, since your friends apparently hate me.”

He rolled onto his side to face her. “My friends don’ ha’e you? Allie thinks you’re the best thing since sliced bread, Lukey would probably sacrifice his guitar for your choreo, and Reg is practic’ly par’ ‘o’the fam.” 

She scoffed. “Please, Flynn would deck me if she got half the chance, and Julie hardly wants me around.” 

Bobby flicked her forehead. “Y’er posh, rich, prob’ly pre’y ‘a people who aren’ me, talen’ed, and come from nowhere.”

“Is that your weird way of saying to give them time?” She asked after a moment.

“Yup.”

——

“Flynn, y’know I think you’re brillian’, righ’?” Bobby asked, trying to keep his voice quiet. Reggie was sprawled across the sofa, head in Bobby’s lap, spark out, as he’d been for over an hour now. “And tha’ I’d trus’ your judgemen’ on jus’ abou’ anythin’?” 

Flynn nodded, one eyebrow raised pointedly. “You may have mentioned?” 

“Would y’mind maybe tryna make my sister feel a bi’ welcome?” He managed eventually, doing his best to keep his words in order. “You don’ go’a become ‘er best ma’e or owt, bu’ she’s in a bi’ of a sticky one with all this, and a couple’a decen’ ma’es could really do ‘er some good.” 

Flynn blinked. “What?” 

“Oh, shi’” he laughed, smoothing a thumb over the crease that formed in Reggie’s forehead. “You don’t have to become best friends with her or anything, but she’s in a difficult situation, and a couple of alright friends could really help her out.” 

“That’s not what you said at all, but okay,” they said. “Did Carrie say something?” 

Bobby shrugged. “She dun’ think y’like her.” 

“I’ve only known her for, like, two days,” Flynn defended herself. “That's not enough time to like or dislike someone.” 

Bobby rolled his eyes fondly. “Hey, I’m no’ sayin’ you should be makin’ blood pac’s or owt, I’m just askin’, as one ‘o my ma’es, would’ya do me a favour and keep an eye on her?” 

Flynn nodded after a moment. “Yeah. But, you owe me ice cream.” 

“Done,” he agreed, offering his fist for her to bump. “An’ she’s a decent sor’, once you ge’ past the wanky accent. You can take over’ world together.” 

They made a considering face and bumped their knuckles against his. “Someone who could run the science department would be kinda useful.”

“Well, there’y’go. Care’s a physics genius. She was ramblin’ a’ me las’ nigh’ about sommet ‘a’do with… fuck. Uh, Pauli’s Exclusion Principle? Brains on tha’ girl are amazin’.”

Flynn’s face softened. “You’re really proud of her, huh?” 

He shrugged. “It’s weird, ge’ing ‘a see her this much. I had no idea she were this smar’. It’s pre’y cool, even if physics  _ is  _ the inferior science, to know my little sister is a genius.” 

She flashed him a small smile. “I’m glad you got this. I know everything else got really weird for you, but it sounds like you’re enjoying having Carrie and Mr Wilson here. I can’t imagine being so far away from Jules and Ray - not that they’re my biological family like Mr Wilson and Carrie are yours, but still.”

“No, I get you,” he promised. “Julie is for you wha’ my boys are for me, righ’?” 

“...exactly,” they agreed. “Not like Reggie, though. I think Jules is more into Luke, that way, even if she could definitely do better than a dolphin man living in her spare room.”

Bobby felt his cheeks burn, but didn’t even bother to deny it, not with Reggie hugging his leg like a teddy. “No’ like Reggie, no. You may be righ’ abou’ Jules ‘n’ Lukey, though. And.. y’did’ hear i’ from me, but i’ may be reciproca’ed.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated, drop us a message or an ask at [anxiousacesexplorethelitverse](https://anxiousacesexplorethelitverse.tumblr.com/%22%3E@anxiousacesexplorethelitverse!) if you have any questions about the happenings or the lore etc, we have so much we’re never gonna be able to fit in here :))


	10. Romance Isn't Dead, It's Wet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As much as Luke loved the idea of creating a new band with Julie instead of shoehorning her into their old one, he’d forgotten how much work had gone into reaching a point where they were affording cross country plane tickets to play out-of-state at seventeen.   
> He had to admit, though, they had missed out not utilising Trevor’s connections and contacts. Carrie was taking point for now, having worked out some kind of thing with Flynn about Flynn taking over once their name actually meant anything, but at the minute, as just a couple of kids who made music in a garage, Carrie knew the ins and outs of getting them on the up and up much better. She was, in all honesty, a lot more like Bobby than any of them had realised. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo  
> We're back with the gays being gay in different habitats, this time we have gays in the water and gays on a mountain.  
> Experiences with fibromyalgia, anxiety, adhd and other issues are based on personal experiences or researched, and we have a TW/CW for blood for the second part of this chapter, nothing graphic but it gets talked about  
> we hope you enjoy!

As much as Luke loved the idea of creating a new band with Julie instead of shoehorning her into their old one, he’d forgotten how much work had gone into reaching a point where they were affording cross country plane tickets to play out-of-state at seventeen. 

He had to admit, though, they had missed _out_ not utilising Trevor’s connections and contacts. Carrie was taking point for now, having worked out some kind of thing with Flynn about Flynn taking over once their name actually meant anything, but at the minute, as just a couple of kids who made music in a garage, Carrie knew the ins and outs of getting them on the up and up much better. She was, in all honesty, a lot more like Bobby than any of them had realised. 

Sure, they had the same stereotypical stiff upper lip, and sharp sense of humour, which they’d known ever since the first time Bobby had let them meet her on face time, but she was quickly shaping up to be the same kind of affectionately brash and a million layers of anxieties and insecurities coated with confidence. It wasn’t really all that fake, either. They believed in what they knew and what they could do - anything there was tangible evidence of - and were never really ones to talk down their achievements, but on a personal level, when it came to themselves and their place amongst friends, well. Luke was pretty sure Bobby knew how much they loved him, but Carrie was the same kind of uncertain he’d been at the beginning. 

Luke didn’t _need_ a new best friend, but he sure as fuck wasn’t about to let Bobby’s little sister go without one. 

“Hey, Care, how’re you doing?” he asked, dropping down to sit next to her. He leaned over her shoulder to peer at her laptop screen, whistling lowly when he saw the logo Reggie had thought up on her screen, fully rendered. “Holy shit. Did you do that?”

“As if,” Carrie scoffed, but didn’t make any move to push him away. “I’m not that kind of artist. Alex’s boyfriend drew it out by hand for me, and then Flynn and Julie did some weird thing on that art app people use on iPads to make it-” she waved a hand at the screen. “I’m just thinking of how much you might want to rep your own brand.”

Luke nodded, sitting back a little bit so he wasn’t quite as hunched over her shoulder. “How much are you thinking? I can tell you what we’re willing to do, and stuff.”

“Oh, that works.” She nodded, putting her laptop down. “So, Alex’s drum skin?”

“Oh absolutely,” he agreed immediately, rooting around in the drawer of the coffee table for the crunchy pretzels he’d left there earlier. “That’s a no brainer.”

Carrie flashed him a small smile. “Right. So, then I was thinking, maybe if we found like a colour scheme for the band? I know i’m not going to be able to tear Reggie and Bobbit away from the red-black thing, and you don’t need to have a set outfit, or anything, but-”

“Purple,” he said, then felt his cheeks heat with embarassment. “Sorry, i didn’t mean to - we were thinking purple.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carrie dismissed, waving a hand. “Kay does that all the time. So, purple?”

Luke nodded. “Firstly, it’s a cool colour, secondly it’s a good one to have, like, fairly muted for Bobbers and his allergy to brights, but me and Jules and Allie can go with lighter ones, and we can just wear it as a - what’s it called when you wear it to compliment your other colours?”

“Accent colour?”

“Right.” He nodded. “So, we can wear it as an accent colour, right?”

She considered it for a moment. “Yeah, that works. I mean, as I said, it doesn’t need to be you all in purple all the time, but if there’s a little cohesivity without ruining any of your individual styles, I think that could work for you.”

“Awesome.” He crammed way too many pretzels in his mouth, awkwardly doing his best not to make too much eye contact as he forced them down. “So what else?”

Carrie said something, but his eyes caught on a scratch in the paint on the wall, and by the time he dragged his focus back to her, she was looking at him expectantly. “Uhm. Sorry, can you repeat that? I didn’t - it didn’t….”

Thankfully she took mercy on him fairly quickly. “I was just saying that you and Julie have a _lot_ of chemistry, so there’s not really anything we need to do there. You two are pining, Reggie and Bobstard are literally kissing from time to time and not doing anything about it, and Alex can make heart eyes at Willie in the crowd, and the audience will think he’s looking at _them_ like that, which could work. You and Julie fixated on each other, Bobs and Reggie also fixated on each other, and Alex fixated on the crowd.”

Luke whipped his head up to look at her properly. He was pretty sure Julie wouldn’t be fixated on him, considering how she looked at Flynn, but there was a bigger problem at hand. “Am I that obvious?”

Carrie snorted. “Your heart eyes could literally be seen from space.”

“Oh shit.” He let his head loll back on the back of the sofa, counting the planks of wood on the ceiling. “I thought I was being subtle. I didn’t want Flynn to notice.”

She leant against him. “She’s way too smart for that, you pillock. They know.”

Luke was about to say something in his defence, when Carrie’s tone of voice caused something in the back if his mind to light up. He turned his head to look at her, grinning as smarmily as could make his face go. “So… Flynn, huh?”

Carrie’s cheeks turned a faint pink, but she didn’t even try to refute it. “It’s not like it’s gonna go anywhere, seeing as she hates me, but… I guess?”

He held his fist up for her to bump. “Welcome to the club of people willing to admit they’re pining for people they can’t have. And the club of people willing to admit they’re pining for people in general.”

She rolled her eyes, but Luke was nothing if not a Wilson-body-language expert, so he was ninety percent sure it was fond. “Yay?” she said sarcastically, bumping her knuckles against his. “I’m honoured.”

\----

“Ladies, gents, entities,” Carrie called, waiting for Luke and Bobby to stop playing until she spoke again. “I got you a gig.”

Luke whooped and leaned forward to offer a high five. “Tu et vite sur ses patins ce matin, eh?”

“He means that you’re smart,” Reggie chimed in before Luke could say anything else, squeezing Carrie in a half hug. “That’s awesome, by the way, Care.”

“Woah, thanks, Carrie.” Alex grinned and offered one arm when Reggie finally released her, and even Bobby flashed her a grudging half smile and a thumbs up. 

Once Carrie had finished hugging everyone who offered, Luke turned to her. “SO, what are the details? Where? When? How many songs? Is it a school dance? Please tell us it’s not a school dance, we’ve played enough of those.”

“Not as Julie and the Sirens, you haven’t,” Flynn reminded them. “If that’s what you need to play to get where you wanna be, then that’s what you’re gonna have to play.”  
“I know, I know,” Luke groaned, holding both hands up in surrender. “It’s not a school dance, though, right?” he asked Carrie.

Carrie laughed and shook her head. “No, but if there are school dances coming up that you _can_ play at, we will be getting you in there, and you’re going to play them, understood?”

“Understood,” the four of them agreed, all sounding about as pleased about it as Luke felt. 

“It’s in two weeks, so no risk of any full moon fuckery, at a music cafe thing near here. Managers go to places like that all the time, and dad got picked up at a similar event. Not that you’re likely to get loads and loads, this is your first performance, but if you build a name for yourself at these types of things, and Flynn’s social media thing kicks off, which it undoubtedly will, then you’ll be in tip top shape to go places.”

“Sounds good to me,” Luke agreed. “Celebratory surf?”

Julie whipped her head up, eyes wide, and he changed his track immediately. “Celebratory swim? Just fuck about in the water, maybe?”

She relaxed a bit, and nodded. “Yeah, I imagine you guys’ll seem loads bigger when I’m in there with you.”

“Oh! I know!” Reggie shot his hand up like they were at school. “We could take you guys to the island and show you the moon pool!” 

“Oh, tha’s a shou’,” Bobby remarked, expression softening when Reggie beamed at him. “We could ask dad if he can ge’ us a boa’ or somme’?”

Carrie nodded. “If you four swim out, maybe get Willie if you want, then we could meet you there in about an hour?”

Luke looked to Julie. “You good with that, Jules?”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” Julie agreed. “I’m excited to see this moon pool, I gotta admit. How’s the rest of the island?”

He shrugged and perched on the arm of the sofa she was sat on, chewing on the celery Ray had picked up that morning and letting the steady crunch give a rhythm to his thoughts. “I don’t really know. We’ve only really been on the island itself twice. We’ve swum around it a lot, and sometimes we chill in the moon pool, but we only went outside that on the night we got turned, and me and Willie had a bit of a look around while we were waiting for Reg to un-siren-ify, but then Allie didn’t like us disappearing while magic fuckery was ongoing, so we went back before we got far.”

“Oh, fair enough.” she smiled up at him. “So… we’ll be exploring it for the first time?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Flynn cleared their throat. “This is really adorable, I promise it is, and I hate to interrupt, but before we go for a swim, while Carrie sorts out the boat, can I get a photo of the five of you mid-song? I’m thinking now would be a good time for an introductory instagram post, while we’re all celebrating.”

“Aye aye,” Luke joked, saluting her. “How and where do you want us?”

Flynn made shooing motions until they were all in their normal starting position for Bright. “How about you just play through the song, and I’ll take photos as we go? I think candid shots fit your vibe.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex agreed, glancing round to make sure they were all in position, then hit his drumsticks together. “One! Two! Three!”

\----

“So, we’re gonna take the boat out and moor it on the Western shore of the island, and you guys meet us there, okay?” Flynn checked, rubbing suncream into Julie’s back. “And then we’ll just fuck about and see what we find?”

“That sounds good,” Luke agreed. “Maybe we could figure out a good anchor point for the boat for the moon pool entrance while we’re out there? I don’t remember _loads_ about the storm, but I do remember it being a trek from the beach to the pool.”

“Yeah, when we had a look around it was difficult climbing up out of the cave, remember?” Willie asked, only half focusing on the conversation, the rest of his attention dedicated apparently to making sure Alex didn’t have any smears of white on his face from the suncream. “It’ll probably be easier to be able to leave via the moon pool if that’s all you’re going for.”

Alex made a vague squeaking sound that Luke assumed to be agreement. It could also just be pure gay panic from how closely Willie was inspecting his face, but Willie and Alex got that close to each other a _lot_ , considering Bobby and Reggie were managing more kissing-esque things than they were, so Luke hoped Alex had a little more higher brain function than that by this point. 

“Thanks for your input, Alllie,” Reggie joked, perched on Bobby’s thigh like the poor guy didn’t look halfway to an aneurysm. “Really helpful.”

“We’re surrounded by idiots,” Luke whispered to Carrie as Alex regained conscious thought for long enough to defend himself to Reggie. “Idiots who need to hurry up and get together.”

“We are also pining,” she reminded him. “Well, pining’s the wrong word, we’ve only known them for a couple of weeks, I guess Bobby and Reggie are the only ones who are actually in-love pining, but you get my point.”

Luke tipped his head in acknowledgement. “That’s fair, but at least we’re not essentially in relationships and unaware of it.”

“Oh, Bobby knows he likes Reggie,” Carrie told him. “He’s a Wilson, he’s incompetent, not thick.”

“Very true,” he admitted. “I still think that makes us smarter than the others.”

“I am definitely smarter than all of you but Flynn,” she agreed. “But not because of anything to do with emotions - except i’m not interested in men, which gives me a _lot_ of points. Maybe Reggie, he’s smart too actually, he’s a whizz with maths, even if he is interested in Bobby.”

He snorted and spun her around so he could rub suncream on her back while she continued rambling. “Okay, miss superiority complex. I can still swim faster than you, so ha.”

“That would be the magic,” she reminded him, then body slammed him into the water when he moved away by a fraction of an inch. 

Luke clutched his chest dramatically as he fell back into the water, not even trying to catch himself. He waited for the weird feeling of the champagne bubbles rising and his legs disappearing to subside before surfacing, hoping his glare was even vaguely threatening. 

Judging by the way both Wilsons were cackling, it probably wasn’t. 

Julie appeared, way too close, knelt on the jetty. “You okay?” she asked, clearly fighting a smile. 

He grinned up at her, momentarily mesmerised by how the mid afternoon sun was making her hair glow. He suddenly had a lot of sympathy for Alex losing the ability to speak when Willie smiled at him. “Yeah, yeah. Carrie’s just as much of a bitch as her brother, apparently.”

Julie giggled. “Well, you’re already in there, so i guess we’ll meet you there?”

“Absolutely. Will you push Bobbers in for me?” He asked, tapping his index and middle finger against his temple in a lazy salute. 

Julie hummed in thought. “What do I get in return?”

“I’ll get you a pretty shell whilst I’m down there?” he offered, letting his tail rise up until he was floating on his front, which was an awkward angle for his back for sure, but surprisingly comfortable otherwise. 

“Works for me,” she agreed, leaning forward to kiss his forehead so fast he couldn’t even be entirely sure it actually happened. 

He was sure when he turned to look at his boys, that he probably looked like he’d been struck by lightning, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care. “Uh. Let’s go?”

\----

He hadn’t been expecting sharing the island to feel so… intimate. 

It hadn’t really felt like that with Willie, but Luke supposed that that could, at least in part, be because Willie was Alex’s… whatever, and also because they’d been panicking out of their minds about Reggie’s newfound mind control abilities, but Luke mainly thought it was because Julie was there. In a way, it was like taking her home, which wasn’t really something he could do in the literal sense, not with how everything was with his mom and dad, but this was where everything of Chapter three of his existence had begun, the chapter that started with his boys, a new beginning of just the four of them. The Molina and Wilson households may be quickly becoming something of a home, but this was where the person he was now had started out, and showing that to someone who meant so much to him was suddenly terrifying. It was taking this wonderful girl and these new people he considered family, and his actual family, and opening his arms and saying _this is where I begin_ , and hoping they found it as beautiful as he did. 

“Hey, Julie, this way.” He offered his arm, motioning to the cave entrance. “This is where the moon pool is. It’s a bit of a rocky slide down, though, so watch yourself.”

Julie nodded and took his hand while she sat down awkwardly. “See you down there?”

“Absolutely,” he agreed, watching to make sure she’d hit the bottom before following her down. 

“Where’s the pool?” she asked, looking around.

“Just through here,” he explained, resisting the urge to take her hand again as he directed her to the little set of steps. He ignored the sounds of the others following them down, and just followed her through into the moon pool cavern. 

Watching Julie stare around in awe loosened something he hadn’t even known had been lodged in his chest. Flynn and Carrie and Willie and his boys faded away, and it was just Julie, less than half the size of him, all delicate limbs and huge eyes, and feelings that were way too strong for a girl he’d only known for a few weeks. He led her back towards the water, making sure that she stayed a little bit away for when he stepped into the water.

He moved back so he had one foot on the little shelf a foot or so deep, and grinned up at her, hoping he really wasn’t as obvious as Carrie said. “Let me show you around the reef?” 

___

Luke was absolutely gone for Julie and Alex was going to make fun of him for it. He was definitely not going to let Luke live down the dopey smile and the blush he’d worn when Julie had jumped in the water after him and admired his shifted form, and then led the way out of the moonpool as if she’d swam through the underwater tunnel a hundred times. He was so going to do that if he survived this fucking exploration trip that the others had all decided to go on. A “hike to make ourselves familiar with the island” Carrie had called, and that was really just a glorified way of saying that the six of them were traipsing around the woods like idiots while Luke and Julie looked at corals and fish, or stared into each other’s eyes or whatever.

Carrie and Flynn were marching ahead, with sure footing and deep in a discussion about fashion history. It was quite funny how Flynn insisted they didn’t like Carrie and yet they were constantly smiling at the other girl. Bobby and Reggie were taking it a bit slower, trailing behind his sister hand in hand, and just rambling about maths and chemistry back and forth. Alex didn’t understand any of what either of them were saying, just saw Reggie constantly pulling Bobby clear of spiderwebs and Bobby making sure Reggie didn’t stumble or hurt himself. 

Alex and Willie formed the tail of their little expedition, trailing behind the others at a slower pace. They were slowly making their way up the mountain that rose over the moonpool and into the sky, and while Alex didn’t particularly fancy dying by falling down the mountain, he was actually having a good time. Alex was pretty sure that it had been formed by a volcano, with how it rose like a funnel into the sky, and the blackness of the stone beneath them, as well as the amount of vegetation. There were a lot of cavities in the ground around them, and loose rocks or uneven patches from the now cold stream of lava that must have been flowing here at some point.

Alex was also holding Willie’s hand, and telling them all of that. Or rambling, really, because he had fallen in love with volcanoes as a child and still held a lot of fascination for them, and also because he seemed to have a tendency to ramble with him around. Willie was listening and nodding along, and sending Alex smiles every so often, and humming under their breath to show he was paying attention. It was extremely distracting, and Alex focused on the ground before him even harder, not really fancying the idea of falling down the mountain and breaking his neck.

“I’ve only ever seen volcanoes underwater and there it isn’t really all that pretty. Just a lot of smoke and boiling water,” Willie said after Alex finished ranting about how unfair it was that lava was as pretty as it was and could also literally kill him. “Honestly Hawaii would be a good bet, they have a lot of active volcanoes there that produce really steady but slow moving streams,” Alex said, and tightened his grip on Willie's hand momentarily to pull them around a boulder.

“You should take me and tell me all about the volcanoes and I’ll introduce you to the local pods,” Willie said and Alex nodded. He’d like that, a lot, and his heartbeat sped up just thinking about spending a lot of time with Willie, they’d probably swim to Hawaii after all, and seeing volcanoes. He’d never seen any volcanoes, they didn’t really have any back in Germany and Mount St. Helen’s wasn’t really active when he’d visited. Willie grinned at him, and Alex found himself staring for a moment too long, at the way the sun made Willie’s hair shine even more than it usually did, and the small crinkles around his eyes. 

“I think we’re nearly at the top, hurry up slowpokes,” Carrie called, some thirty meters ahead, crossing her arms. Alex could faintly hear Bobby mutter curses at her and promptly shut up when Reggie giggled. He snapped out of his daze and made to go ahead, but Willie stopped him and squeezed his hand.

“Alex, actually, I was wondering,” they started, slowly, eyes flitting between the ground and the sky and Alex’s face. Alex’s face felt hot, and not just from the exertion of climbing up this thing, or the sun beating down on them. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime? Just the two of us?”

Alex gaped at Willie for a few seconds, his mind racing to figure out what exactly Willie meant by that. He didn’t want to assume, but at the same time he really wanted to assume that this wasn’t just a friendly thing. Willie bit his lip, squeezed Alex’s hand again and took a step closer to him, so that there was less than half a meter between them. “As a date?”

Alex choked on his own spit, or air, or maybe a fly that had flown into his open mouth, he wasn’t really sure, because his mind just stopped running for a second or two. He didn’t even really understand his own surprise, because even he himself could see that there was something between him and Willie, but they’d asked the question so casually. He’d asked the question that Alex had kind of planned on ignoring until he was more sure of things, or maybe never because putting himself out there was scary as hell. 

He spluttered, and tried to turn away so he didn’t cough directly in Willie's face and stepped onto a few loose rocks. He slipped, somehow keeping enough of his senses to let go of Willie’s hand to not pull him down as well, and he came onto the ground hard. Alex could feel rocks and sharp edges dig into his exposed knees and he huffed a small groan. That was embarrassing.

“Alex, holy shit, are you okay?” Willie leaned over him and held out a hand. He looked both worried and amused and Alex was tempted to just throw himself down the mountain right then and there. He didn’t, he just nodded and took Willie’s hand, who pulled him up and patted his shirt. Something wet was on his left knee and Alex looked down to see a few drops of blood glistening in the sun. “Aw, fuck.”

Alex didn’t really think about what he did next until he’d done it, he just wanted to keep the blood from running down and soaking into his socks, which, yeah, admittedly maybe he shouldn’t have worn light yellow socks for this, but that was not the problem right now. He lifted his free hand and concentrated, and the blood that had begun trekking down his lower leg came to a stop. 

“Oh, tha’ is disgustin’,” Bobby said and Alex jumped slightly. He hadn’t even heard them coming down to where he and Willie had lingered, but there Bobby and Reggie were, shoulders pressed together and staring at him. “Makes sense though, blood has a water content of 92 percent, so of course we can interact with that,” Reggie said. Carrie and Flynn were making their way down to them as well, looking slightly annoyed. If they knew he’d hurt himself because Willie had asked him on a date he’d never live it down.

Alex wasn’t sure what to do, because he’d just stopped his own blood from trickling down his leg, what the fuck, what was he supposed to do with it now. He held his hand steady and tried to keep his focus on what he was doing. 

“Tha’ dun’ make i’ any less disgustin’, swee’pea,” Bobby said and Alex shot him a glare. Then he finally dared to look at Willie, who was watching him with something that was definitely interest, but also something more, something that made their features soft and lifted the corner of his mouth a bit. Carrie came to a stop next to her brother and made a displeased face.

“What exactly is going on?” Flynn put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. Reggie pointed towards him. “Alex is bloodbending.”

“I’m not, this isn’t Avatar, I just don’t want my socks to get dirty,” Alex protested.

“Shouldn’t you have turned into a fish by now? Blood is mostly water,” Carrie squatted and took a closer look at his knee. Bobby pulled on her ponytail gently. “No, idiot, we don’t react to our own bodily fluids.”

“Do you react to other people?” Flynn asked, peering around Carrie at Bobby. Reggie made an excited noise and turned to Alex. “I’on’ fuckin’ know Flynn, but we’re no’ gonna tes’ i’ ou’ now,” Bobby shook his head and gently pulled Reggie to his side. 

Alex still held onto the very small pool of blood that had formed just beneath his knee, and wondered how long it would take to stop bleeding and how he’d dispose of it, when Willie let go of his hand only to step closer and rummage through his fanny pack. “I’m guessing you have some band-aids in there?”

“Hm?” Alex took a second to realize what exactly they wanted to do. “Oh, yeah, in the second zipper.” Willie looked up, standing extremely close to him, and Alex was very tempted to kiss their forehead. Willie just had the perfect size for it, just a few centimeters smaller than Alex himself. They went through the fanny pack with quick fingers and gave a satisfied small hum when they pulled out some tissues and a batch of big band-aids Alex kept in there for emergencies. 

“Can you still control it and maybe sit down? I’ll patch you up, but sitting might be easier,” he said and Alex nodded, keeping his hand flexed and most of his focus on his knee as he sat down. Willie knelt next to him and began soaking up the blood with a few tissues. “So how’d this even happen? Did you just want to try out if you could control your blood, or?” Flynn pulled out her phone, probably texting Julie. They’d promised to send each other updates every half hour to make sure everyone was alright.

Willie looked up at Alex with a knowing smirk and raised one eyebrow slightly. Alex prayed that they chalked up his red face to sunburn and not him being flustered, even if he was. It wasn't his fault that a slight breeze was playing with Willie’s hair, and his earring glinted in the sunlight, and that their hands were soft and careful against his skin. It was just unfair. He cleared his throat and looked up to the others who waited expectantly. “I uh- I just slipped?”

“Yeah, he slipped on some loose pebbles or something,” Willie agreed, putting the dirty tissues aside. Alex nodded and shot Willie a look he hoped was thankful. Willie winked. 

“I swear to everything that is holy, if you seriously injure yourself before your first Julie and the Sirens gig I will kill you personally,” Flynn said. Carrie looked ready to kiss them. 

“I won’t do it on purpose” Alex offered, and Carrie gave an exaggerated sigh. She rolled her eyes. “I seriously don’t see what you see in boys. You’re all so stupid.”

Alex was ready to retort about how it was his godgiven right as a gay to be stupid, but Willie smoothed the bandaid out with a light pressure, then kissed it. “Kiss for good luck, with healing, I guess.”

“That’s not- It doesn’t… okay.” Alex really, really needed to get his shit together. Heilige Scheiße, did he need to get his shit together. Willie just smiled, then pointed at the bloody tissues. “Does anyone have a small bag or something to put these in? They might be biodegradable, but I don’t want to leave them out.”

“Yeah, yeah sure, I have something. Sorry, by the way, for this whole… for falling and stuff.” Alex dug around in his fanny pack and produced a small plastic bag he kept in there in case of emergencies where plastic bags were needed. He picked the tissues up and tied the bag, then zipped the compartment shut over it. Willie giggled, then smiled at him again. “It’s okay, I’m just glad you didn’t hurt yourself too bad.”

They pulled Alex to his feet, which the others took as their cue to get going again. Alex had nearly forgotten that they were still climbing up this fucking mountain. He brushed away the bit of dirt still clinging to his other knee and flexed his hands a bit, trying not to think about the implications that he could control literal blood. Willie reached for his hand again and linked their fingers together. 

“So,” he said, bumping Alex’s shoulder with his. “Are you gonna go on a date with me?”

Alex didn’t fall this time, or choke on something. He just smiled, grateful that Willie still wanted to, and had asked again because he really had no idea how else he would have brought this up again. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated, drop us a message or an ask at [anxiousacesexplorethelitverse](https://anxiousacesexplorethelitverse.tumblr.com/%22%3E@anxiousacesexplorethelitverse!) if you have any questions about the happenings or the lore etc, we have so much we’re never gonna be able to fit in here :))

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated if you enjoyed, let us know what you think! We haven’t figured out a posting schedule yet, but when we do, we’ll put it here. Happy New Years!  
> ((Ps, please please please ask us any questions you have about the universe!! We have a lot of stuff mapped out that we won’t be able to write in, so our ask boxes are open on tumblr if you have *literally any* questions about anything in the slightest))  
> You can find us on Tumblr under [a-tomb-with-a-view](https://a-tomb-with-a-view.tumblr.com/) and [on-irratia](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/on-irratia) if you want to :D


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